Lesson 1: Figurative Language

Where the sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white.
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight,
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow.
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Hyperbole: all these words exaggerate how dark it is.
Metaphor: to emphasise on the cooling effect of the wind.

Why i like the poem:
It begins highly descriptively, describing the street where the sidewalk ends. Her description of the sidewalk is as if its decayed, diseased. With flowers the colour of asphalt in pits, and black smoke. She is showing how she feels about living on the sidewalk, and how she would prefer to progress to the street. Even though the street is unknown and perhaps full of danger, its better than to life on the sidewalk. This poem encourages people to step out into the street, and not hide in darkness.