What is a love-as-fire metaphor?

What is a love-as-fire metaphor?

Definition
	A conventional metaphor in which love is represented as a fire, such that
	the cause, existence, and intensity of the fire represents the cause, existence, and intensity of the love, and burn damage done by the fire represents psychological damage due to love.

Examples
	Here are some examples in English:
	My heart's on fire. She is his latest flame. That kindled love in his heart. I don't want to get burned again. He was consumed by love.

Generic
	A love-as-fire metaphor is a kind of
	What is a metaphor for love?

Source
	Kovecses 1986

Context for this page:

Concept module: love-as-fire metaphor
In modular book: Metaphors in English, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H. Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Lexicon

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 18 September 1998

© 1999 SIL International