A study on metaphors of love in english = nghiên cứu các ẩn dụ về tình yêu trong tiếng anh luận văn tốt nghiệp đại học

English learner who has much interest in metaphors which “has traditionally beenviewed as the most important form of figurative language use” John I., 2003:345,the author decides to choo

VINH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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ĐỖ THANH NHÀN

A STUDY ON METAPHORS OF LOVE IN

ENGLISH(NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC ẨN DỤ VỀ TÌNH YÊU TRONG TIẾNG ANH)

GRADUATION THESIS

FIELD: SEMANTICS

Vinh, May 2011

I would also like to give my sincere thanks to all my teachers from theForeign Languages Department of Vinh University for their lectures and advicewhich are very useful for me to finish this study.

Finally, I wish to thank my family and my friends who have encouraged andsupported me during the time I work on this study Especially, I am obliged to myfriends who looked closely at the final version of the thesis for English style andgrammar, correcting and offering suggestions for improvement

Though the study has been done with all my attempts, shortcomings areunavoidable in the study Therefore, I would like to welcome and appreciate anycomments and suggestions for improvement

Vinh, May 2011

Do Thanh Nhan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKOWLEDGEMENTS i

TABLE OF CONTENTS ii

PART I INTRODUCTION1 1 Reasons for Choosing the Study 1

2 Aims and Objectives of the Study 2

3 Scope of the Study 2

4 Method of the Study 3

5 Design of the Study 3

PART II DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 5

1.1 What is Metaphor? 5

1.2 Source Domain and Target Domain 6

1.3 Characteristics Features of Metaphor 6

1.3.1 Similarity of Shape 7

1.3.2 Similarity of Size 7

1.3.3 Similarity of Position 7

1.3.4 Similarity of Movement 8

1.3.5 Similarity of Function 8

1.3.6 Similarity of Colour 9

1.3.7 Similarity of Behaviour and Character 9

1.3.8 Similarity of Sound 10

1.4 Classification of Metaphor 11

1.4.1 Living Metaphor 11

1.4.2 Fade Metaphor 11

1.4.3 Dead Metaphor 12

CHAPTER 2: A STUDY ON METAPHORS OF LOVE IN ENGLISH 13

2.1 Love Metaphors related to Nature 13

2.2 Love Metaphors related to Flowers and Drink 17

2.3 Love Metaphors related to Fire 21

2.4 Love Metaphors related to Madness 23

2.5 Love Metaphors related to War 25

2.6 Love Metaphors related to Journey 27

CHAPTER 3: SOME SUGGESTED EXERCISES FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH METAPHORS OF LOVE 31

3.1 Suggested Activities 32

3.2 Suggested Exercises 37

PART III CONCLUSION 42

3.1 Recapitulation 42

3.2 Suggestions for Further Studies 43

REFERENCES 44 APPENDIX

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Reasons for Choosing the Study

English is now playing an indispensable role in all fields of life It is notdifficult to realize the dominance of English in international communication,science, business, aviation, entertainment, broadcast and education Therefore, if theneed for an international language is prompted, English will probably be chosen

The demand for learning English worldwide, particularly in Vietnam is sogreat that many people are now making a point of learning it According to theofficial statistics issued by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training in

2003, the English language was chosen by 98.5% of Vietnamese secondary students

as their compulsory foreign language subject

However, the statistics did not mention the quality of English learning It isassumed that Vietnamese learners do not often find it hard to learn English initiallybecause of the similarities of the alphabet system in the two languages They can dogrammar exercises feeling like a rose Nonetheless, it is challenging to becomeproficient in English For Vietnamese learners of English, particularly advancedlearners, knowing and understanding metaphors is a significant step to masteringthis language The more fluently and accurately Vietnamese learners can useEnglish metaphorical expressions, the more successfully they can deal with thelanguage of English in literature as well as in real life Furthermore, metaphorsreflect distinctive features of each language, so they can be the bridge linking thesoul of different nations Thus, it should open doors to friendly atmosphere on thepart of both native and non-native speakers, which leads to global mutualunderstanding in cultures, customs, traditions and behaviors as well – the key factor

to avoid culture shocks during international communication

Metaphor has been studied and viewed at different angles by numerousscholars It is still a controversial topic which attracts people’s interest As an

English learner who has much interest in metaphors which “has traditionally beenviewed as the most important form of figurative language use” (John I., 2003:345),

the author decides to choose the topic “A Study on Metaphors of Love in English”

as the study of her graduation thesis

Hopefully, the study, to some extent, can help Vietnamese learners ofEnglish understand metaphors more deeply so that they can use them moreefficiently

2 Aims and Objectives of the Study

The thesis mainly aims at finding out some common love metaphors whichare used in English, discovering the meaning of these metaphors in English andVietnamese and providing some suggested activities and exercises for teaching andlearning English metaphors of love

To fully achieve these aims, the study has to answer two questions:

- What are the common metaphors of love used in English?

- What are the meanings of these English love metaphors and their Vietnameseequivalents?

3 Scope of the Study

The study concerns about love metaphors in English However, “A Study on

Metaphors of Love in English” is a broad topic As a graduation paper, it is

impossible to cover all kinds of love metaphors The study only focuses on somecommon love metaphors in English

It is worth noting that the concept “love” in a broad sense means a deep,tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude among human beings The studydoes not discuss metaphors related to the bigger sphere of love, which includes lovefor one’s father land, motherly love, etc In this study, love simply means lovebetween men and women Therefore, love metaphors dealt with in the study areabout love between men and women

The Vietnamese metaphors of love are presented with an aim to help theauthor and readers have a better understanding of the common English metaphors oflove discussed in the study A contrastive analysis of common love metaphors inEnglish and Vietnamese would be another research at a higher level

Another point is that activities and exercises presented in Chapter 3 onlyserve as samples to give learners chances to practise using these metaphors and also

as suggestions for teachers

4 Method of the Study

To carry out this research, some methods have been combined First andforemost, a review of existing study results on metaphors is necessary to provide abetter understanding of the topic Collecting data and gathering sources is donethrough selecting and reading English and Vietnamese love metaphors After that,data are categorized and metaphors are analyzed with an attempt toprovide a betterunderstanding of the aspect

5 Design of the Study

The study is divided into three main parts Part I “INTRODUCTION”

consists of the author’s reasons for choosing the study, aims, scope, methods, anddesign of the study

Part II entitled “DEVELOPMENT” includes three chapters Chapter 1,

“Theoretical Background”, provides some background knowledge about

metaphor, source domain and target domain, characteristics of metaphor and

classifications of metaphor Chapter 2 is entitled “A Study on Metaphors of Love

in English” In this chapter, the author mentions about some common metaphors of

love in English related to nature, flowers, drink, fire, madness, war and journey and

their Vietnamese equivalents Chapter 3 entitled “Some Suggested Exercises for

Teaching and Learning English Metaphors of Love” presents some suggested

activities and exercises to give learners chances to practice using these metaphors

In part III “CONCLUSION”, the author summarizes the main points in the

study and suggests some topics for further studies

The study ends with the “REFERENCES” which lists all the materials and

sources of information used in this study

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

In the first chapter of this study, the author would like to briefly presentsome general knowledge about metaphor, source domain and target domain,characteristic features and classification of metaphor

1.1 What is Metaphor?

Many people think that metaphor is a matter of extraordinary rather thanordinary language, and that metaphor is a device of the poetic imagination.However, a lot of metaphors can be found in everyday life language (Lakoff andJohnson, 1980: 03)

Up to now, there have been numerous linguistic definitions of metaphor InAristotle’s Poetics and Rhetoric (350 B.C) which has been considered as thefundamental of rhetorical and metaphorical piece of research for more than 2000years, metaphor functions either as a substitution of the figurative for the literal, or as

an abbreviated simile Specifically, Aristotle assumed that metaphor was derivedfrom seeing semblances in things, which is one feature of simile However, bycomparison with simile, metaphor was regarded as the more compressed figure ofspeech In this view, the comprehending of a metaphor is an issue of interpreting theequivalent simile, for example, “A is B” had the same meaning as “A is like B”.Another notable point in Aristotle theory is so-called “substitution” theory, according

to Max Black: “metaphor consists in giving the thing a name that belongs tosomething else; the transference being either from genus to species, or from species

to genus, or from species to species, or on grounds of analogy” (cited in Aristotle’sPoetics and Rhetoric, 1953:174)

Another viewpoint on metaphor belongs to Dinh, T.L According to him,

“metaphor is the transference of meaning from one object to another based on

similarity between these two objects.” (1995:194) This viewpoint is supported by

Do, H.C as he defined metaphor as “the symbolic name of one object, which isbased on the similarity, realistic or imaginary, between the identified object called

“A” and the object called “B” of which the name is transferred to “A” (1996:87).Although these two authors expressed their ideas in different ways, both of them seethe transference of meaning from A to B and their similarity of these two objects

It might be noteworthy to mention also the definition of metaphor fromdictionaries for better clarity and neatness In Oxford Student’s dictionary ofEnglish (2001:140), “metaphor is a word or phrase that is used in an imaginativeway to show that somebody/ something has the same qualities as another thing.”

Despite apparent differences in expressing, all of these aforementioneddefinitions intersect at one point, which is that metaphor always is the transference

of name based on the association of similarity

1.2 Source Domain and Target Domain

Zoltán Kövecses in “Metaphor: A Practical Introduction” has said that:

“Metaphors connect two conceptual domains: the target domain and the source

domain The conceptual domain from which we draw metaphorical expressions to

understand another conceptual domain is called source domain, while theconceptual domain that is understood this way is the target domain Thus, life,argument, love, theory, ideas, social organizations, and others are target domains,while journeys, war, buildings, food, plants, and others are source domains Thetarget domain is the domain that we try to understand through the use of the sourcedomain” In the course of metaphorical processes the source domain corresponds tothe target domain; in other words, there is a mapping or a projection between the

source domain and the target domain The target domain X is understood in terms of the source domain Y For example, in the case of the metaphor “Love is a journey”,

LOVE is the target domain whereas JOURNEY is the source domain WheneverJOURNEY is mapped onto LOVE, the two domains correspond to each other in away which enables us to interpret LOVE as a JOURNEY

1.3 Characteristic Features

There have been many ways to understand metaphor Hoa, N (2004) statesthat metaphor is a hidden comparison The transference is based on the similarity ofshape, size, position, movement, function, color, behavior, character and sound

1.3.1 Similarity of Shape

Firstly, metaphor is created on the basis of similarity of shape

Take the example:

Neck of the bottleMouth of the cave

Hoang Tat Truong (1993:80)

In these examples, metaphorical expression the “neck” is not a neck-part ofthe human body, but it is the narrow part at the top of the bottle and the word

“mouth” is not a part of the body that is small and round but mouth is used as ametaphor to refer the entrance of a cave and the other example such as:

The head of a cabbageThe teeth of a saw

Hoang Tat Truong (1993:80)Similar to the above example, “head” and “teeth” are metaphoricalexpressions based on the identification of shape

1.3.2 Similarity of Size

Metaphor is also created on the basis of similarity of size

Look at the example:

Their daughter is quite plump but their son is positively elephantine

English –Vietnamese –Dictionary (1993:559)

The image of “elephantine” is used metaphorically making a hidden

comparison with a big person

1.3.3 Similarity of Position

Sometimes, metaphor is resulted from the similarity of position.

Look at the following example:

The foot of a mountainThe heart of the country

Hoang Tat Truong (1993:79)Such expression as “foot of the mountain” is described as a similarity ofposition “Foot” is the lowest part of the body and it is used metaphorically to refer

to the lowest part of the mountain, the metaphor is stimulated by the identification

of the mountain “Heart” is used metaphorically because it is an important part ofthe body and is in the center position In such way “leg of the table” or “tail of theprocession” and so on, are considered metaphors basing on the similarity ofposition

1.3.4 Similarity of Movement

Basing on similarity of movement, people have created many metaphors.Look at the example:

They had to worm their way through the narrow tunnel

English – Vietnamese – dictionary (1993:2069)The river snaked away into the distance

English – Vietnamese – dictionary (1993:1690)The image of “worm” is an animal with a soft rounded or flattened body It isput in the real context with function as a verb to compare with a twisting movement

of a person like a worm The other example, the verb “snake” is used as a metaphorbased on the identification of movement

1.3.5 Similarity of Function

Many metaphors are used in daily life, based on the similarity of function:

Key to the mysteryHead of the classHand of the clock

Hoang Tat Truong (1993:80)

We easily see that “key”, “head” and “hand” in these cases are not a key toopen clock, head- not part of the body and not a hand of the body, and they also do

not belong to instrument, success or clock In fact, metaphorical meanings in theseexamples are applied to any obstructing; this transference of meaning is based onsome common features to refer to similarity of function.

1.3.6 Similarity of Colour

In many cases, metaphor is resulted from the similarity of colour

For example:

The rose of clouds at down

English – Vietnamese –Dictionary (1993:1539)

An orange light

English – Vietnamese –Dictionary (1993:1216)The words “rose” and “orange” are described as similarity of colour Theword “rose” denotes a kind of flower and it is used as a metaphor to refer to theclouds that has rose colour In the second one “an orange light”, the word “orange”denotes a kind of fruit and it is used in this case as a metaphor to refer to the lightsthat has orange colour Therefore, these metaphorical expressions are based on theidentification of colour

1.3.7 Similarity of Behaviour and Character

Sometimes, people create metaphor basing on the similarity of behaviour andcharacter

Look at the following example

He is a fox

He is an Othello

Hoang Tat Truong (1993:80)The word “fox” here is the name of a big animal which is very wise andclever “Fox” is used metaphorically with the negative meaning to refer to a person

cunning character “Othello” is a character in “Othello – the Moor of Venice”- a

tragedy written by William Shakespeare “Othello” in the sentence “he is an

Othello” refers to a person who is very jealous Therefore, “Fox” and “Othello” areused as metaphors based on the similarity of character and behaviour

“she is bombed with lots of questions” “Bomb” is used to describe what happened

to someone surprisingly, immediately and uninterruptedly

They are the most clear-cut types of similarity The others are hard todefined, for many metaphors are not based on the similarity

She tried to avoid breaking his heart (hurt feeling)

I am feeling down (feel sad)

Thoa (2005:9)These two metaphors are resulted from the transference of space relationupon psychological and mental notion, i.e the relation between the concrete and theabstract

On the whole, the similarities on which metaphors are based are so variousand sometimes are not clear-cut or present in metaphors

1.4 Classification of Metaphor

Metaphor can be classified into different types according to their degree ofunexpectedness Hoa N (2004) states that there are three kinds of metaphor: livingmetaphor, faded metaphor and dead metaphor Metaphors which are absolutely

unexpected are called living metaphor Those which are commonly used in speech

and therefore are sometimes even fixed in dictionaries as expressive means oflanguage are faded and dead metaphor

1.4.1 Living Metaphor

Living metaphor that can be called active metaphor is one which relativelynew and has not become part of everyday linguistic usage It is created and used byindividuals According to Hoang Tat Truong (1993:81), living metaphor occurs

"when a word has an unusual metaphorical sense or the metaphor is created andused by an individual"

For example:

You are my sun Perelman (1999:88)

In the above example, the "sun" is used metaphorically to refer to a personwhom you respect or admire for whatever he has done for you This is the resultfrom an individual’s use of language and is called a living metaphor

As for this type of metaphor, the addressee can recognize them easily as theyare new and very impressive

1.4.2 Fade Metaphor

According to Hoang Tat Truong (1993:81) "fade (trite) metaphor is one thathas lost its freshness due to long and traditional use" It is necessary to note that themeanings of faded metaphor are registered in dictionaries since they are ofcommon use We can take the following metaphors for example:

Her voice is sweetShe is a snake

Hoang Tat Truong (1993:81)

The word "sweet" is used as a metaphor to refer to a person who has a verypersuasive and skillful voice The word "snake" in the second one is also usedmetaphorically to express a person who has a dangerous character.

Faded metaphors have lost their freshness, vigor and emotional associationsthey must have had Presently, they are sleeping and half dead metaphors which areonly aroused in special circumstances

1.4.3 Dead Metaphor

According to Hoang Tat Truong (1993:81) "Dead metaphor is a metaphorwhich is no longer felt as a metaphor because the direct meaning of the word hasbeen completely lost" We can look at the following example for a highlight

“To ponder”- Hoang Tat Truong (1993:82)

"To ponder" originally meant "to weight" but now only means "to mediate/

to think or to consider carefully" Hence, we can say that dead metaphors are onlyused with their indirect or figurative meaning and their direct or literal meaningsare completely lost

On the whole, each type of metaphors can bring a different degree ofmetaphorical sense to the addressee ranging from the living, faded and to the deadmetaphor

In conclusion, there have been numerous definitions of metaphor and themost common one is that metaphor is the transference of name based on theassociation of similarity The similarities on which metaphor based on are sovarious that is the similarity of shape, size, position, movement, function, color,behavior, character and sound Metaphor can be classified into different typesaccording to their degree of unexpectedness However, there are three main kinds:living metaphor, faded metaphor and dead metaphor Another important thingwhen we mention about metaphors is that metaphors connect two conceptualdomains: the target domain and the source domain and there is a mapping or aprojection between them which enables us to interpret the metaphors

CHAPTER 2: A STUDY ON METAPHORS OF LOVE IN

ENGLISH

Love is a universal feeling, which is felt by every living being on this earth.Though there is no definition to describe this unique feeling of love, it ischaracterized by a sense of attachment and affection towards somebody orsomething So strong is the feeling that it is said that it makes the world go around

If you are still wondering why love is so important in our lives, the answer is that itsatisfies the emotional needs of human beings

Human beings have an innate quality of giving and feeling love Moreover, it

is even related with our biological structure It is this feeling of love which isresponsible for the existence and maintenance of the society When a baby is born,parents forget about their hunger and sleep as they are so much in love with theirchild The sweet ecstasy of love enables the man to accomplish tasks that would nothave been possible without its powers The enigmatic emotion exceeds allboundaries and has great potential of changing lives of the people

Love, as well as other feelings and emotions, is quite an abstraction It isdifficult for us, if not impossible, to comprehend these concepts without ametaphor People tend to use many different metaphors to explain Love It is a goodtopic that we can not stop talking about Because it is a broad topic, in this chapter,the author would like to present only the most common metaphors of love inEnglish and their Vietnamese equivalents

2.1 Love Metaphors Related to Nature:

Love metaphors related to nature are usually used in English The cause ofbeing happy is partly from outside, therefore we can infer: Love is nature It meansthat love is something not to be reckoned with, it is very unpredictable It is notsomething that can be manipulated or controlled Love happens when it happens, to

whom it happens Love can not be forced upon someone, and it can not be avoided

if it catches you by surprise

Sometimes love is represented as a storm, flood, or wind, thus highlightingthe aspects of the intensity of love and the lack of control of those in love

For example: She swept me off my feet

Waves of passion came over him

She was carried away by love

It was a whirlwind romance

She let herself go

One of the most common nature-related metaphors in English is “Love is

sunshine” Sunshine can bring us warmth, faith and hope in a brighter tomorrow.

Love plays a similar role in people’s lives Without sunshine, all species can notsurvive and develop, without love we can not live In other words, love is thefoundation of life When people are in love they feel happy and everything aroundthem is so bright As a result of the way people see the importance of both love andsunshine in human beings’ life, “Love is sunshine” metaphor appears

When she smiles, she lights up the room

You are the sunshine of my life

She brought sunshine where winter winds had blown

The majesty of the feeling is such that it allows humans to treat each otherwith kindness and compassion In fact one can say that there are a number ofemotions bred by love It might be any relation binding us together; love isubiquitous in different forms A passionate lover’s kiss, a tender mother’s touch, afatherly concern or a brotherly or sisterly affection, everything expresses love Lovebecomes an important part in our life Therefore, it is easy to understand why love

is compared with sunshine

In Vietnamese, the metaphor “Love is sunshine” is used widely not only inliterature but also in daily language

For example:

- Với em anh như ánh nắng ấm áp giữa mùa đông giá lạnh.

- Em muốn là mặt trời tỏa sáng soi dõi bước chân anh.

- Anh - mặt trời của em - sưởi ấm trái tim em bằng những tia nắng mới ngọt

ngào và ấm áp.

- Em là ánh mặt trời, luôn tỏa sáng mỗi khi anh lầm đường lỡ bước, là tia nắng duy nhất còn sót lại trong cuộc đời anh.

- Anh đành viết tin nhắn và gửi đến tim em tia nắng ấm của tâm hồn anh.

- Anh là mặt trời bé nhỏ trong cuộc đời em.

Beside “Love is sunshine” metaphor, “Love is the air” is another common

metaphor about love in English Love is similar to the air in the sense that we cannot see but we always know its importance The metaphor “Love is the air” is usedwidely in English For example:

She is the air I breathe

Love is fresh air.

She is a breath of fresh air.

I breathe your love: it is my air.

You are my air.

Your love is my air, I need you to survive.

The air is more precious than any other thing in the confines of the world:you can not live if you can not breathe That is why the air is so important in ourlife Love is of the same importance to us All the luxuries of life crumble to dustwhen the energy of love is removed

In Vietnamese, like in English, love is also represented as the air InVietnamese, there can be found many expressions based on this metaphor such as:

- Lúc nào anh cũng cho em hít thở bầu không khí đầy tình yêu của anh.

- Em là nguồn không khí cho anh hít thở.

- Anh là bầu không khí bao bọc em, bầu không khí ấy trong ngần,thanh khiết.

- Và anh chính là bầu không khí tiếp cho em hơi thở và sức sống.

Another love metaphor related to nature is the metaphor “Love is autumn”.

It is often used in poems

For example:

- My love is autumn locked inside your heart (1)

- Love is autumn leaves

changing colored emotions

as the air grows cold (2)

- Love is autumn leaves changing beautiful colors.

- Love is autumn

hues of gold and orange

arranged in order upon the countryside (3)

When the autumn comes with cool weather, people may feel a bit lonely andlong for love They try to express this feeling through the change of the season.Autumn is the perfect time for love Autumn brings the most romantic images ofthe year by falling leaves and freezing air It is not only a natural move but also achange of emotion Both autumn and love are mystical and can bring the bestfeelings in human beings’ soul Autumn is considered the most romantic season ofthe year Love is of the same romance to us For this reason, love is compared withautumn

In Vietnamese, like in English, there are many love metaphors related tonature in Vietnamese such as “Love is sunshine”, “Love is autumn”, “Love iswind”, “Love is wave” and “Love is whirlwind”

For example:

- Mùa thu tình yêu ( 4 )

- Anh làm mùa thu cho em mơ màng ( 5 )

- Cơn lốc tình yêu ( 6 )

- Trong lòng Mạc Ngôn Hy đột nhiên trào dâng một cơn sóng sục sôi ( 7 )

- Hễ thấy cô ta thì cơn sóng trong lòng anh lại dâng trào, yêu – hận tồn tại

song song

- Em đem ánh bình minh chiếu sáng đời tôi và chỉ lối cho tôi, dẫn đường cho

tôi vượt quá những khó khăn của cuộc đời ( 8 )

- Có em kề bên nói cười

Người là ánh sáng của đời tôi ( 9 )

- Anh ấy đem đến cho tôi một thứ tình cảm mà có lẽ tôi chưa từng có khi yêu

Huy- một cơn gió lạ ( 10 )

- Anh sẽ lại chỉ là một cơn gió, một cơn gió lạnh giá làm trái tim em thêm

buốt nhức (11)

- Cô ấy đến thổi vào đời tôi một luồng gió mới

- Cơn gió tình yêu

- Tình yêu là cơn gió cuộc đời

2.2 Love Metaphors related to Flowers and Drink

There can be found in English a great deal of love metaphors related to flowers and drink

An English musician has said that:

Love is a rose but you better not pick it.

It only grows when it is on the vine.

A handful of thorns and you will know you have missed it.

You lose your love when you say the word “mine” (12 )

A metaphor is a hidden comparison It compares similar qualities of twodissimilar objects With a simple metaphor, one object becomes the other A love

metaphor related to flowers is “Love is a rose” The rose is the flower that has

sparked the imagination and touched the hearts of so many people; there is no otherflower that has been the highlight of a person’s day; the gift of love and happiness,bringing two people together This beautiful delicate flower is more famous thanany other flowers in the whole world Let us analyze this remarkablyunsophisticated metaphor concerning love and the rose to see what it offers.Because the poet uses a comparison with a rose, first we must examine thecharacteristics of that flower Rose is a beautiful, sweet smelling flower with tenderpetals The rose flower also grows from a thorny stem Most people agree that love

is a single coin with two sides, the one side being a beautiful, sweet and tenderemotion while the other side can be bitter and very painful This analogy can

explain why a rose is used to symbolize love Rose is the perfect love symbolbecause they represent all things sensual, sacred, pure and romantic.

Different colors of roses may also represent different feelings and emotions

It is intriguing that of all the diverse colours (maroon, red, yellow, pink, peach,white, lavender, etc), that roses come in, the red rose is the colour that is accepteduniversally as a love symbol Red roses are also seen as classic A vibrant anddramatic color, it stands for romance and passion Red roses have been represented

in countless works of art, from classical paintings and poetry to modern day musicand media Red is a very hot, vibrant and commanding colour It draws attention.Similarly, love is an emotion that comes in and takes control It craves attention.Scientists say the colour red stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing and love cansometimes make the heart beat faster and the breathing uneven Colour therapistssay red is a colour for passion, a colour for pain and romantic love is definitely athing of passion and a thing of pain

The popular country singer Don Williams starts his song “Then it is love”with the words: “Some people say that love is a rose

Maybe they have hit it right on the nose”

We can find many other expressions of the metaphor “Love is a rose”:

- My love is a red rose.

- Love is the wild rose.

- You are my rose.

- For my love Sarah – my beautiful Spanish rose

- Love is a beautiful rose with a bouquet of nasty thorns.

The metaphor “Love is wine” is also frequently found in English There can

be found expressions like “drunk with love”; “She gave me a fuddling/exhilarating look”; “fuddling smell”, “I am drunk without wine, with the streets where she has

been”, etc

Even Ernest Hemingway wrote in “Death in the Afternoon”: “Wine is one ofthe most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the

world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater rangefor enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing”.What is more, wine can make you drunk Similarly, the depth of love has the ability

to captivate your conscience to a state of drunkenness

The respects in which love and wine are similar are numerous:

Firstly, the original station and initial home of wine is the belly of the vat andthe bottom of the cask By means of the power of its fermentation and the strength

of its bubbling, the wine tends towards the manifestation and divulgence of itspresence without any outside stimulation In the same way, the secret of love which

is hidden within the confines of lovers' breasts and concealed in the inward hearts ofthe desirous, demands uncovering and manifestation because of its overpoweringstrength

Secondly, wine in itself has no determined shape or particular form On thecontrary, its shapes and forms depend on those of its containers In the vat it followsthe vat's round shape, in the pitcher it keeps to the form of the pitcher's inside, and

in the cup it takes the shape of the cup In the same way, the essence of love is areality without any delimitation, and it appears within lovers in keeping with itscontainers, namely their receptivity and preparedness

Thirdly, wine affects all the organs of the person who drinks it Similarly,love pervades all the senses of the lover

Fourthly, both wine and love make the person who drinks it and possesses itgenerous and open-handed, even if he had been avaricious and miserly

Finally, the wine-drunk and the love-drunk are brave and reckless, void ofthe quality of fear and cowardice In places of danger they are bold, and in times ofperil they have had enough of life But the bravery of the one is because hisforesighted reason has been overwhelmed, while the courage of the other is based

on the domination of mystical unveiling and certitude

Joni Mitcheel breathed wine’s sensuality into this beautiful metaphor forlove and desire:

“Oh you are in my blood like holy wine

Oh and you taste so bitter but you taste so sweet

Oh I could drink a case of you

I could drink a case of you darlingAnd I would still be on my feet”

In Vietnamese, to express love, many different ways are resorted in the

metaphor “Love is a flower” It is manifested in expressions such as:

- Tình yêu chớm nở

- Em là đóa hồng tỏa hương thơm ngát đời anh.

- Tình yêu ấy sẽ luôn toả hương trong cuộc sống Đừng làm đoá hoa tình yêu

phai mờ theo thời gian mà hãy cùng nhau tô thêm sắc màu cho đoá hoa ấy thêm rực rỡ ( 13)

- Chiều xưa, cùng ai tới đây,

Dưới hoa hương tình ngất ngây

Tựa đôi uyên ương trên hồ,

Đắm say trong cảnh chiều mơ ( 14)

- Tình yêu ơi, tỏa hương đi nhé

- Và chàng điên của em

Cũng như em ngày ấy

Không biết rằng tình yêu

Sẽ héo tàn chóng vậy ( 15)

The metaphor “Love is drink” is also present in Vietnamese expressions such as:

- Nụ hôn đầu thoảng nhẹ bay làn gió

Dậy men lòng dư âm mãi không phai

- Chẳng chè chẳng chén sao say

Chẳng thương chẳng nhớ sao hay đi tìm

- Tình yêu như rượu ngọt

Càng uống lại càng say

- Tình như gió bay đến bên em Cuốn sóng bụi mù vào thiên thu men tình ngất

ngây