Final answer:
A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes an implicit comparison between two unrelated things sharing common characteristics, without using 'like' or 'as.' Unlike similes, which use 'like' or 'as,' metaphors suggest a direct identity between different things, enriching language with imaginative connections.
Step-by-step explanation:
The figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated, but which share some common characteristics, without using 'like' or 'as,' is known as a metaphor. Metaphors are a form of figurative language that expresses an idea through the image of another object. For instance, in Emily Dickinson's "Hope," the line Hope is the thing with feathers directly compares the abstract concept of hope to a bird with feathers, without using the words 'like' or 'as.' This metaphor suggests that hope is soft, light, and capable of flight, characteristics commonly associated with birds, specifically feathers.
Conversely, a simile is an indirect comparison that does involve the use of 'like' or 'as.' Bruce Snider's "Chemistry" provides an example: something inside me / rising explosive as my parakeet bursting / from its cage, where the phrase 'as my parakeet' employs 'as' to draw a comparison. It is important to note that both metaphors and similes serve as important tools for writers to convey more vivid and imaginative connections between dissimilar concepts or objects.