Figurative Language In The Century Quilt By Sarah Mary Taylor

“We’d crawl in shame in the emptiness we’d made in our own father’s backyard,” pens Mary Oliver regarding the shame that she would feel for cutting the black walnut tree a symbol of her family. In a similar manner, Sarah Mary Taylor writes about a quilt that the speaker obtains in her youth and how she hopes that it will remain a symbol for her family and life. In order to effectively convey the symbolism of their families, both authors employ figurative language and imagery that supports their symbolic meaning. Although done in a similar manner, Taylor’s figurative language in “The Century Quilt” differs from Oliver’s figurative language in “The Black Walnut Tree,” although both stay equally successful in their purpose. To start, Taylor writes