In
literature, a
conceit is an
extended metaphor with a complex
logic that governs a poetic passage or entire
poem. By juxtaposing,
usurping and
manipulating images and ideas in surprising ways, a conceit invites the reader into a more sophisticated understanding of an object of comparison. Extended conceits in English are part of the poetic idiom of
Mannerism, during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century.