Poetry and language learning

Metaphors / Metáforas

People do not seem to read or write poetry any more, and yet a good poem can save our day and lift our spirits when emotional darkness envelops us. A poem by Keats, Donne, Frost,  Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare... can bring joy to our despair, solace to our loneliness. And a help to our language-acquisition efforts.

Poetry uses metaphors: comparisons between two things that are not alike but which we  pair. For example:

Ruby lips (labios de rubí.)

Kisses are the flowers of love.

Laughter is the music of the soul.

Words are the weapons with which we wound.

We are all shadows on the wall of time.

I was lost in a sea of nameless faces.
Life is a walking shadow. 

What do you think? Are you poetically inclined? In Spanish, would-be poets wrote about "dientes de perlas", "labios de rubí" and "tu boca es como dos pétalos de rosa." But such is the metaphor.
I belong to a generation that was forced at school to learn poetry by heart. I can recite poems in English, Spanish and French, and even in Galician, to this day. It never hurt me.