Midnight Verses

What metaphors are used in Midnight Verses by Anna Akhmatova?

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The "ninth deadly wave" is a metaphor for life, indicating old age, an assumption borne out by the fact that the whole poem speaks rather freely of impending death. Waves might not mean exactly the same thing in every place where they appear in the poem, but they do have an essential characteristic of carrying one away toward death.

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Midnight Verses