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Colossal figure

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A figure of speech employing imagery of enormous scale and grandeur

Detailed Definition
A colossal figure is a hyperbolic metaphor or simile that compares a subject to something of immense scale—mountains, oceans, or mythic giants—to convey awe, power, or existential weight; this rhetorical device amplifies emotional or thematic magnitude, often appearing in Romantic or epic-inspired poetry.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” “I am large, I contain multitudes” embodies a colossal figure of democratic selfhood; In Ginsberg’s “Howl,” “Moloch whose mind is pure machinery!” personifies capitalism as a colossal figure; In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” the father becomes a “black shoe” and “vampire” of colossal historical weight; In Lucille Clifton’s “won’t you celebrate with me,” the speaker’s birth “in babylon” frames her as a colossal figure of survival; In Tracy K. Smith’s “Wade in the Water,” God appears as a colossal figure in Civil War letters.
Additional Notes
Colossal figure is an image of immense scale in poetry; it conveys awe, grandeur, or overwhelming presence.
Also Known As
Gigantic figure Enormous metaphor Titanic image Vast figure Cyclopean metaphor Massive comparison
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