This study considers some problems of reference found in figurative language, particularly in metaphor and metonymy. Analysis is based on the notion that the effects communicated by figurative language depend to a large extent on reference to more than one concept, experience, or entity, and that the presence of multiple potential referents enriches both cognitive and linguistic effects of written discourse. The text examined is a narrative entitled "Song of Solomon," by Toni Morrison, and the reference analyzed is that made to an earring. It is found that the apparently unique referent of the word is extended through metonymic and metaphoric elaboration so it acquires new cognitive senses; each use of the term in a new environment creates a unifying factor for interpretation of the entire narrative. It is concluded that while the Relative Theory of reference, which proposes that relevance is the only one necessary for satisfactory interpretation, and the principle of optimal relevance of referents are explanatory for brief, completed utterances, a complementary theory must be developed to explain a writer's use of multiple referentiality in longer narratives