Figures of speech are literary tricks that are used to find the most effective expression, even at the cost of violating the rules of language. They have many forms and are sometimes classified in lexical constructions, other times in this simple lexical concordances between words.
In common parlance, however, they are called simply metaphors, thus creating a synecdoche that is the description of the whole with a part.
Order to better understand, we can compare these poetic instruments on simple mathematical operations. The poetic expression is then completed by the reader's imagination.
When you consider the following sentence:
"The lights of the city are like the stars for the boat"
city + lights = boat + stars
the lights are used to move around in the dark
=
the stars are used to navigate in the dark
The lights are like stars.
Adynaton
Afèresi
Allegoria
Allitterazione
Anadiplosi
Anaptissi
Anastrofe
Antanaclasi
Anticlimax
Apallage
Apòstrofe
Assonanza
Brachilogia
Catacrèsi
Catafora
Chiasmo
Iperbole
Metafora
Onomatopea
Similitudine