An allegory in poetry is an extended metaphor in narrative form. Metaphor, as any aspiring poet should know, is a type of figurative language in which a word or phrase actually represents another word or phrase, to draw a symbolic comparison between the two. In the allegory, the poet creates characters, scenery and plotlines that are meant to symbolize ideas, feelings and actions, in order to make generalizations about human behaviour, life, nature, religion, government, etc. One of the advantages of the allegory, for the poet that wishes to impart a definitive message to their audience, lies in it's ability to teach or preach without seeming like a lecture or a stale statement of facts. The work below is an example of allegory.
The Town Fool
Weyland stares at the stars
And swears they must be diamonds.
He doesn't need proof
Other than how bright they shine.
The townsfolk stare and laugh
And label him mad
When he builds his tower,
Using fallen logs,
In an attempt to reach the sky.
He holds a shovel tight in his grasp,
Because he also knows
The night sky must be made of dirt,
Otherwise it wouldn't be so black.
They snort and sniffle,
Shoving him to the ground,
Telling him he'd be better off
Digging into the real dirt.
"You can't live your life
Imagining things are just
The way you want them to be.
Weyland, stupid Weyland,
You're a reject from reality."
One day a stranger passed through town
And began whispering words
That the preacher labeled blasphemy.
"The stars,"
Said he,
"Are suns a million miles away;
They are made of airs so hot
That the air has solid form.
They burn so hot,
That they are already ageless
And will last a billion more years."
"Heretic!" shouted the preacher
And his congregation followed suit,
Telling the stranger that God made the stars
To guide man's way at night.
They told him the stars
Were merely little lights
Whereby God kept track of man.
The stranger told them he knew different.
He had studied the stars
And he knew what they were.
First they taunted him,
Then they stoned him,
Then they hung him in the square,
Using Weyland's tower as the scaffolding.
And Weyland stared.
He stared at the crowd.
He stared at the dead stranger
He looked up and stared at his tower.
He looked further up and stared at the stars.
He looked down and stared at the shovel in his hand.
Weyland didn't care if God made the stars.
All he knew was:
Diamonds will get you laughed at,
And hot air gets you killed.
Weyland decided the stars were just stars,
And dropped his shovel to the ground.
