Sentence:  Or , equally often , a concretistic seeming , particularistic seeming statement may consist , with its mundane <WSD>exterior</WSD> , in a form of poetry - may be full of meaning and emotion when interpreted as a figurative expression : a metaphor , a simile , an allegory , or some other symbolic mode of speaking . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  the region that is outside of something