LIGHT AS A METAPHOR

 

                   LIGHT AS A METAPHOR

          “Light” is defined as the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible.  Examples of this definition are sunlight, moonlight, starlight, lamplight, firelight, electric light and gaslight.  

           Metaphorical meaning a word is non-literal, figurative, allegorical, symbolic and emblematical.

Light has several metaphorical meanings. Some of them are:  truth, knowledge, wisdom. Goodness, virtue, life, vitality, love, understanding and enlightenment.

 Look at these lines from the the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali:

 

“Light, Oh where is the light ! Kindle it with the burning fire of desire! It thunders and the wind rushes screaming through the void. The night is black as a black stone. Let not the hours pass by in the dark. Kindle the lamp of love with thy life.”

 

          What follows are a few quotes from the writings of English and other writers.   

 

1. Hail ! holy light , offspring of heaven, first born.--- English poet, John Milton (1608-1674).

 

2. The first creation of God, in the works of the days, was the light of sense; the last was the light of reason; and his Sabbath work, ever since. is the illumination of the spirit. -----English writer and philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626).

 

3. Light is the symbol of truth. -----American Romantic poet J.R.Lowell (1819-!891). 

 

4. The light of nature, the light of reason, are but as darkness, compared with the divine light which shines only from the word of God.----American historian J.K.Lord 1810-94.

 

5. Light is the shadow of God.---Greek philosopher Plato.  

 

Finally, this short but meaningful quote: Every moment of light and dark is a miracle.

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G.R.Kanwal

28 October 2024