the.com/conceit
A metaphor so audacious it dares you to call it ridiculous, then wins.
means An elaborate, far-fetched metaphor that draws a surprising parallel between two very different things — or, in everyday use, an excessively high opinion of oneself.
from From Latin 'concipere,' to take in or conceive — the same root that gives us 'concept' and 'conception.' A conceit is literally a thing conceived in the mind, an idea formed. The word arrived in English in the late Middle Ages meaning simply 'a notion' or 'a fancy.' From there it branched two ways: the literary sense (a clever, ingenious idea — the witty metaphors prized by Renaissance poets) and the unflattering sense (too high a notion of oneself), since an overgood idea of your own worth is, after all, just another thing you've conceived.
- double meaning
- Names both vanity and an extended literary metaphor
- metaphysical poets
- Donne compared two lovers to drafting compasses
- etymology
- From 'concept,' an idea conceived in the mind
- petrarchan staple
- Cataloged lovers' parts into wildly extended comparisons
- calculated risk
- Works only when the stretch feels inevitable, not silly
narcissus — greek mythological youth who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool and was transformed into a flower
dorian gray — oscar wilde's 1890 novel character obsessed with his own beauty and youth, refusing to age while his portrait decays
metaphysical poets — 17th century english poets like john donne who used elaborate conceits (extended metaphors) comparing unlike things in their verse