Personification is a wonderful literary device. It bestows human-like characteristics on non-human (such as animals and pets) or inanimate objects (such as notebooks or stones). Let's look at some amusing examples of personification in poetry. The following poems use this technique to give voice to their subjects.
First, we will look at how personification is used by William Shakespeare to great effect in his plays. The characters in these works are often portrayed through analogy with real people or things. For example, when Hamlet is lamenting the death of his father, he says: "O, that this too too solid flesh would melt.../Thaw and resolve itself into dew!" (act 1 scene 2). Here, Hamlet is likening himself to a glacier, melting ice being equivalent to blood flowing from a wound. This shows that even something as insubstantial as flesh can feel pain like any other object.
Next, we will examine how John Milton used personification in "Areopagitica" to argue for the establishment of a free press in England. Areopagitica means "defender of the people", and it was written as a letter to the king who had just appointed a new Lord Chancellor named Oliver Cromwell. In this poem, Milton uses words such as "voice" and "authority" to describe what the court's lawyer should be allowed to say during trials.
Personification is a metaphor or simile in which an inanimate object or abstract notion is endowed with human characteristics. The mountains, for example, marched to the sea. This poem contains examples of personification such as: no time to turn to beauty's gaze; and watch her feet. What a dancer they are. These phrases attribute human traits to objects that do not have them.
The word personify comes from the Latin persona meaning "a representation," and thus personification means "to represent as." It is used in writing to describe the action of giving human qualities to something that is inanimate or abstract. For example, the poet could have written "the mountain ranges march to the sea" instead. Here, personification is used to express that nature is active and powerful.
Personification can be useful in poetry when trying to convey a sense of power, majesty, or beauty of nature without using too many specific details. It is also useful when you want to talk about things that are difficult to define but important to include in your work like love, fear, or courage. Fear personifies fear itself while courage personifies courage.
There are several forms of poetry that use personification including epic, elegy, hymn, ode, and prayer.
Personification is a form of metaphor in which human characteristics are ascribed to something that does not actually possess such characteristics. In this poem, Reeves compares the water to a dog rather than a person. While not precisely personification, this is a metaphor that ascribes animal characteristics to something else. For example, "The wind whistles through the pine trees on the shore" is a metaphor that describes the wind with words that normally apply to people (such as "whistles" and "trees").
Reeves uses the image of the sea to express his grief at losing his wife. She was lost at sea when he was still a young man.
This image has been used by many poets since its first appearance in 1564. Some examples include: "Oh, what can the sea say? / The wind and the rain have it away." - John Donne
“Into the sea, great God!” - John Milton
“No more shall she hear the voice of her sailor love,/ No more upon her living breast shall sink/ The warm heart-thrill of his touch or his kiss.” - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
“And did those feet in ancient time/ Walk upon England's mountains green?” - Robert Burns
Personification is the process of imbuing inanimate objects with human characteristics. The buzz saw, for example, is personified as a buzzing sound; "the buzz saw growled and rattled in the yard; and created dust and dropped stove-length chunks of wood." Personification is often used by poets to express their feelings about things around them. It is also useful when you want to talk about inanimate objects that have emotions or thoughts of their own.
She is asking whether time is like life itself—a series of moments that pass by or an eternal thing? Her answer is that time is like life itself: it is a series of moments that pass by but it can't be counted because there are so many of them. There are still other ways to interpret this poem, but this one has helped explain what personification is all about.
Personification in Poetry: 10 Interesting Examples
Hover to find out more. In his poem "The Brook," Alfred, Lord Tennyson makes extensive use of personification. Tennyson used personification in his poem to assist the reader visualize and hear the brook he is describing.
Physical features such as eyes, hair, and skin color are important in determining a person's identity. However, beyond physical appearance, we can tell much about someone by observing their behaviors and emotions. This is why we often refer to people as having "minds" or "spirits." Tennyson uses this concept of identifying with another being to help readers understand the brook he is describing. He does this by giving the brook human qualities such as feelings and thoughts. By doing so, he is able to more effectively bring to life a feeling that many people can relate to: loneliness.
In addition to helping readers understand how lonely the brook was, Tennyson also uses personification to explain why it was lonely. He does this by telling the brook that it was "loneliness born at first for grief/ That made thee mute, yet hearing still." (1-4). In other words, loneliness was responsible for making the brook silent but hearing things nonetheless. He continues by saying that loneliness had become its "master-voice." (4-5). Here, "master-voice" means voice that commands attention like a master does with his servant.
Personification is the process of imbuing a non-human item with human attributes. The sunshine, for example, danced. Sunlight is a non-human thing, but dancing is a human action (characteristic). Thus, when poets talk about the sunlight dancing, they are using personification: saying that the sunlight has human qualities like a person would.
In "The Old Year," William Cullen Bryant compares the old year to a person in order to explain why people should not let their anger get the better of them. He says that just like humans, the old year is capable of sin and error just like us human beings. From this analogy, he concludes that we should not be too angry with the old year because it is merely following its natural course just like we do when we are angry with another person.
Bryant uses poetic license to explain some details about how years work. For example, he says that the old year goes out with a bang rather than a spark. This is because there is only room for a certain number of days in a year. When a year runs out of days, it must start over at January 1st. So, when the old year ends, it does so in a big way!
Finally, Bryant compares the old year to a person because it is capable of sin and error just like us.
Copyright © 2020 - 2023 Authors Cast Inc.
