Miller’s brilliant poem, “Spring Storm” is the story of a man whose emotions are unstable. Miller’s use of similes serve to develop the theme that emotions are complex and subject to change, just like the weather. The poet describes the temper of the protagonist in lines 3 to 4 when he says, “He moves like a black cloud over the lawn and---stops.”. The use of simile reveals that he is traveling furiously and is filled with rage. By comparing the movement of the man to a thundercloud, the reader is able to sympathise with him and understand the ferocity of his movement. Furthermore, in last stanza of the poem, the author uses the simile, “Wisecracks and wonderment spring up like dandelions.” to describe the joy and glee that the protagonist feels. The comparison between the excitement of the character and the dandelions, enhance the reader’s understanding of the poem by, allowing them to identify the change in emotion of the man and feel his jubilation.
Although it would be quite absurd to use literary devices in daily conversation, poetry is an exception. Lines and phrases that would seem odd and pointless in everyday communication, is meaningful and contributes to a theme in poetry. William Blake’s “A Poison Tree”, a poem about the gradual development of trapped anger, and Jim Miller’s “Spring Storm”, a poem about inconstant emotions, both support a poem’s ability to surge above the simplicity of daily speech and serve to embellish our point of view of the world around