Cognitive studies on metaphor by Lakoff and Johnson have highlighted the metaphorical structure of thought from which the language originates. This conceptual structure is firmly anchored in the sensitive and perceptive experience: the relationship between pre-conceptual and conceptual becomes evident in poetic language, that can create new metaphors. Valéry’s poetics helps to understand the difference between prosaic and poetic level: his poetic language highlights the very genesis of the metaphorical language, the relationship between pre-conceptual dimension and conceptual dimension, as well as the procedures that move from an ordinary user to a non-ordinary use of language. According to Valéry, the poetic use of language is a process of figuration which can be better understood if compared to the art of dance.