The Day Lady Died Symbolism, Imagery & Wordplay

Holiday was an African-American jazz singer, and one of the most acclaimed singers of the 20th century. Her nickname, "Lady Day," is meant to suggest that she is jazz royalty. "The Day Lady Died" e...

"The Day Lady Died" is remarkable for its lack of some kinds of figurative language normally found in poetry, particularly similes and metaphors. Instead, we get a lot of names and places, some of...

Lacking similes and metaphors to chew on, we're left to focus on the few, small examples of poetic language in the poem. Hyperbole means "exaggeration," like when you talk about eating "tons" of fo...