illustrated portrait of African American author Alice Walker

Alice Walker

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Student Question

What is a metaphor from the poem "New Face" by Alice Walker?

Quick answer:

In Alice Walker's poem "New Face," a metaphor describes the source of the speaker's feelings as "some inexhaustible spring," comparing the emotion of love to a limitless source of water. This metaphor conveys the idea that the speaker's love is abundant and never-ending. Additionally, the poem's title "New Face" serves as a metaphor for the transformative effect of falling in love, suggesting that new emotions can alter one's identity and perception.

Expert Answers

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The poem New Face by Alice Walker describes the speaker's reactions to falling in love. The speaker describes overcoming their worry about falling in love, instead choosing to fully honor, understand, and appreciate the experience. There are multiple metaphors in the poem, but one example is the following:

The source appears to be
some inexhaustible spring

In the context of the poem, this is assessing the source of the "rush of feelings" which the speaker feels as they are beginning to fall in love. Describing the source of emotion as a spring is a metaphor because it is a comparison between two unlike things that is not literally true. The speaker describes the spring as "inexhaustible," conveying that the supply of love and source of emotions as infinite. Additionally, the title of the poem is a metaphor, as shown in the poem's final lines:

The new face i turn up to you
no one else on earth
has ever
seen

The development of new feelings and love for another person does not literally make one's face different, but the speaker utilizes metaphor to describe how falling in love can change someone. The "new face" is the result of new feelings, and the result of the experience and emotion of falling in love.

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