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Light-dark metaphor

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 figurative device contrasting illumination with obscurity to symbolize knowledge vs. ignorance, hope vs. despair, or good vs. evil.

Detailed Definition
Light-dark metaphor uses luminosity and obscurity as symbolic vehicles to represent abstract concepts such as truth versus deception, life versus death, or enlightenment versus ignorance; this enduring trope structures poetic thought from Dante’s “divine light” to Dickinson’s “slant of light,” shaping emotional and philosophical resonance.
Example
Example in poetry:
The use of light to symbolize knowledge, truth, or goodness and darkness to symbolize ignorance, evil, or despair; The poetic device of referring to a revelation as "a sudden burst of light" and confusion as "the fog of doubt"
Additional Notes
Light-dark metaphor: A central metaphor in a poem where concepts like knowledge, hope, or goodness are represented by light, and ignorance, despair, or evil are represented by darkness; a deeply ingrained archetypal metaphor.
Also Known As
chiaroscuro metaphor shadow-light imagery duality metaphor
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