Metaphor and Meaning: Symbolism in 20th-Century American Poetry

This research delves into the complex roles that metaphor and symbolism have played in 20th-century American poetry. Far beyond serving as artistic embellishments, these literary tools emerged as profound vehicles for expressing inner turmoil, social critique, and cultural transformation. In a century marked by seismic shifts— including two World Wars, economic depressions, the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War—poets navigated psychological, existential, and political landscapes through layered poetic imagery. Drawing from figures such as T. S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost, and Allen Ginsberg, this study explores how poetic symbolism reflected, resisted, and reimagined American consciousness. Grounded in theoretical frameworks like psychoanalysis, structuralism, and symbolism, this research illustrates the enduring potency of poetic devices in shaping human understanding 1