Allegory in poetry gives two meanings to a poem: an obvious one and a deeper, often hidden meaning. It can cover an entire poem or be smaller allegories within it. The function is to glorify, criticize, teach morals, parody, or mask emotions depending on the poet’s intention.
The function of allegory in poetry is to give two meanings to a poem. The first meaning is obvious and represents the main theme of the verse; however, a second, deeper meaning is contained within. The second meaning is often a reference to the true message of the poem. In this sense, allegory is a metaphor that uses direct substitution to substitute one story for another.
Allegory is an extended metaphor usually covering an entire poem. Marco Fabius Quintillian, a Roman thinker, believed that there were two main types of allegory: the personal or historical ones and the witty or sarcastic ones. The Greek philosopher Aristotle regarded poems as if they were only emotions and not history.
An allegorical poem, however, can be about any subject as long as there is a direct substitution of one message for another. These can be parables that use an old story to portray a modern message. They can also be politicians, where the fake characters are token versions of real-life politicians or public figures. They can mimic historical incidents or be a way to disguise personal experience.
Classical poetry such as Virgil’s “Eclogues” and “Aeneid” demonstrate that an entire allegory can cover a poem, but there can also be smaller allegories within the poem. This is typically the case with longer poems such as Dante’s poems about Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. The function of allegory in poetry such as the “Aeneid” is to praise a political leader. Virgil uses Aeneas, the protagonist, to show the great strengths of the Roman emperor Augustus.
John Dryden, on the other hand, has used his allegory in poetry to criticize contemporary political figures. His poem Absalom and Achitophel was published in 1681-82 in two parts, of which only the first part was definitely written by Dryden himself. It was written as the reign of Charles II of Great Britain drew to a close. Dryden used direct replacements to replace political figures with biblical figures such as replacing Thomas Shadwell and Elkanah Settle with Og and Doeg respectively.
Edmund Spenser decided to use allegory in poetry to represent the virtues as human beings. Each knight featured in his poem, “The Faerie Queene,” is an allegory of a virtue. It is, however, also a criticism of the Tudor dynasty, which in 1596 was drawing to a close.
The main functions of allegory in poetry are to glorify or flatter like Virgil or to criticize like Dryden and Spenser. It is also a tool to be used to teach morals and virtues, to parody contemporary figures or to mask emotions. The function depends on what the poet wants to say, so the hidden meaning comes first, then the poet attempts to disguise the direct meaning with a different cloak.
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