Glenn Everett (no email) from 206.240.201.53 at 04/14/99 04:22PM
comment
Marcus, the way it's supposed to work is different from what you say. Symbols are supposed to mean something according to a code which you already know, in a one-to-one relationship. The cross stands for Christ, and not for Buddha or the King of England. (This is actually what I find somewhat limiting about symbolic works: once you've figured out what the symbols stand for, there sometimes isn't much else to say.
Metaphor works somewhat the same way, except that in that case the poet isn't using a ready-made code; he is creating the image and the metaphoric relationship at the same time.