Coates uses the metaphor of a vessel with contents poured into it and then shattered to demonstrate the sadness and violence of Prince's death: "And think of how that vessel was taken, shattered on the concrete, and all of its holy contents, all that had gone into him, sent flowing back into the earth"
A simile is a figure of speech that is used to say that one thing is "like" or "as" another thing (e.g., is as cool as a cucumber, is as brave as a lion, is crazy like a fox ).
