Language has the power to transform reality and especially figurative language. Figurative language can also illuminate areas of life that are taken for granted, ignored, or made invisible. Language can "de-familiarize" the world and encourage viewing reality with a new and potentially paradigm-shifting perspective. Similarly, language can be systematically analyzed, dissected, picked apart, and deconstructed to reveal the deeper layers of meaning behind the words people use. Phrases and turns of speech or single words denote multiple layers of meaning. Those layers are overlooked when language is used flippantly. Nietzsche commented on the "dead" metaphors that pervade common speech: human beings no longer think deeply about the language we use and thus fail to appreciate the power language has over our interpretation of reality. At the most extreme, a misuse of language is referred to with the...

Using "literal" to exaggerate a dead metaphor signals how far listeners take for granted the figures of speech used in everyday language.
Especially in poetry, figurative language conveys meaning that would not otherwise be possible. However, the figurative language used in poetry attains a complexity rarely found in even the most purple of prose. Figurative language can be lavishly used convey surreal imagery. In poetry, multiple figures can be used together to bombard the reader or listener with thought-provoking analyses of the power of language itself: beyond the theme of the poem. Emily Dickenson's work illustrates the use of figurative language to unearth its own secrets. The poet's use of figures reveals the unlimited power of language to construct and deconstruct the world.