DivisionMain criterionIllustration
ExplicitIs the source noun stated?Lion for an orator
ImplicitIs the unstated source evoked by an attribute?Claws of death
RealizableCan the intended referent be grasped through sense or intellect?The path of guidance
ImaginedIs the image specifically constructed by supposition?Death equipped with claws
These classifications answer different questions. An implicit metaphor may be analyzed together with an imaginative figure without making their names synonymous in every theoretical account.