Personification - Academic Mode

Definition of personification
Personification is a way of speaking in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes

Non-human objects are represented in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act as beings humans. When we say, "Heaven cries," we are giving heaven the ability to cry, which is a human quality. Therefore, we can say that heaven has been personified in the given sentence. With the definition of personification above, let's take a look at some examples of personification.

Common examples of personification
Look at my car. It's a beauty, isn't it?
The wind whispered through the dry grass.
Flowers danced in the gentle breeze.
Time and tide wait for no one.
The fire swallowed up the entire forest.
We see from the above examples of personification that this literary device helps us relate actions of inanimate objects to our own emotions.

Short examples of personification in language
The shadow of the moon danced on the lake .
There was a heavy thunderstorm, the wind snorted outside and rattled on my window panes.
The flowers were blooming and the bees kissed them every now and then.
The flood raged over the entire village.
The time span is so inconsiderate that it even took the kings under trampling her feet .
It was early morning - I met a cat yawning and stretching in the street.
The skyscraper was so tall it seemed to kiss the sky.
The tree was felled and the birds complained of its dead body.
The tall pine trees in the hilly area caressed the clouds.
The long way to his house was a winding snake with no visible end.
The full moon peeked through partial clouds.
This car suffered a severe stroke in the middle of the road and refused to move forward.
That Ship danced across the ocean waves.
When he passed the test, the words and ideas fled from his head.
When he came out of his late friend's house, everything looked like he was crying
Examples of personification in literature
Example 1: The Green Gables letters (by L.Montgomery)
“I hid in the forest - back to the sun-washed alleys lined with fallen gold and clearings where the moss is green and alive. The forest is getting ready to sleep - they don't sleep yet, but they undress and have all sorts of little pre-bed conferences and whispers and good nights.

The lack of activity in the forest has been beautifully personified as the forest getting ready for sleep, busy at bedtime chatting and wishing good night, all of which are human customs.

Example # 2: Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene II (By William Shakespeare)
"When April well dressed on the heel
of winter footfalls limping."

Here are two examples of personification: April cannot wear a dress, and winter does not limp, nor does she have a heel in which she can walk one month. Shakespeare personifies the month of April and the winter season by giving them two distinct human qualities.

Example # 3: The most beautiful trees the Cherry Now (by A.Houseman)
“The most beautiful trees, the cherry now
blooms along the rama,
And stands on the forest walk
Wearing white for Easter. ”

He sees a cherry tree covered with beautiful white flowers in the forest, and he says that the cherry tree wears white clothes to celebrate Easter. he attributes to a tree to describe it in human terms.

Example # 4: Do you have a stream in your little heart? (By Emily Elizabeth Dickinson)
“Do you have a stream in your little heart?
Where shy flowers blow,
And blushing birds come down to drink,
And the shadows tremble like this?

The shy flowers, blushing birds and trembling shadows are examples of personification.

Example 5: How the Mother-of-Pearl Button was abducted (by William Shakespeare)
“The mother-of-pearl button swung with small winds on the small gate in front of the House of Boxes in the early afternoon of a sunny day who have favourited hide and seek. "

It embodies the wind by saying that it is as playful as little children playing hide and seek on a sunny day.

Example 6: Two sunflowers are moving in a yellow room (by William Blake)
" Two sunflowers
Moving in the yellow room.
'Ah, William, we are tired of the weather, ”
told us a room with a view? “

This poem by William Blake contains many examples of personification. The poem begins in a dialogue form in which a sunflower speaks directly to the poet by giving his name. Again, in the third line the flower says, "Our travel habits have tired us," which is a good personification. The flowers are representing a human characteristic of fatigue caused by the weather. In a humane way, they make a request to the poet to put them in a room with a sunny window.

Example # 7: I wandered alone as a cloud (By William Wordsworth)
“I wandered alone as a cloud
That floats on top of valleys and hills,
When suddenly I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, under the trees,
Sweeping and dancing in the breeze. "

This poem by William Wordsworth contains artistic examples of personification. The fourth line reads," A host of golden daffodils, "and the fifth line has those flowers" flapping and dancing in the breeze. ”

Example # 8: The wasteland (by T.ELIOT)
“ April is the cruellest month, spawning
Lilacs from the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Roots extinguished with spring rain. ”

These are the first lines of The Waste Land, by T. Eliot. The first line contains an impersonation, as he labels April the cruelest month. '

Example # 9: Because I couldn't stop for death (By Emily Dickinson)
“Because I couldn't stop for Death -
He kindly stopped for me -
The carriage we just held ourselves -
And immortality
We drove slowly - He I wasn't in a hurry
And I had saved
My work and also my free time,
Because of its civility - ”

The whole poem is full of examples of personification. In fact, death has been personified by the poet, saying "He kindly stopped for me." Again, in the second stanza, "He did not hurry", and so on.

Function of personification
Personification is not merely a decorative device, but serves to give a deeper meaning to literary texts. Add liveliness to expressions, as we always see. The world from a human perspective. Writers and poets rely on personification to bring inanimate things to life, so that their nature and actions are better understood. Because it is easier for us to relate to something that is human, or possessing human traits, its use encourages us to develop a new and creative perspective.