Imagery and metaphors

Ernest Crosby’s poem, “The Real White Man's Burden”, creates a lot of imagery, yet he is rarely metaphorical. The imagery in the poem is the result of action verbs and certain epithets. We will now provide you with some specific examples you can use when you analyze the poem for imagery and metaphors and other figures of speech.

Contrasts and comparisons

Though the speaker does not use open “compare and contrast” markers, there are still some implicit comparisons made between ‘the white man’ and the colonized people. For instance, the speaker warns imperialists that they will not find in the colonies the same industrialized society they are used to:

“And don't forget the factories.
On those benighted shores
They have no cheerful iron-mills
Nor eke department stores.” (ll. 5-8)

Furthermore, there ...