Wednesday, 4 October 2023

Poetic devices 14: Personification


Personification is a common device used in poetry and other forms of literature. This is where writers ascribe a human characteristic to non-human objects or animals. Personification also occurs when writers represent an abstract quality in human form. It's the literary version of anthropomorphism.

Personification a great device to add richer description to your writing, and it helps readers to understand the scene a little better. Here's an example from a poem by Emily Dickinson:

Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –

In this instance, the poet personifies an abstract concept - Death - and gives it some human characteristics. Personification allows you to ascribe human emotions to things or concepts like this, and this can add great depth to your poetry. You might first instance write:

The rain wept in sorrow

Eh? The rain of course possesses no emotions, so how could it be sorrowful? It has no tear ducts, so how could it weep? You sound a bit crazy writing this Steve! Thanks for your unsolicited opinion. I may be, but personification gives the rain these attributes to add a creative depth. Here's another example:

Tom could hear the last slice of cake calling his name

What? Cake can't speak, so Tom certainly couldn't hear the cake actually calling him! But what the line does, is show, through the personification of the inanimate slice of cake, that Tom had a great desire to grab that last piece of cake before anyone else got there. Greedy Tom. I'll speak to his mother later. 

Have a think and see where you might be able to inject a little personification into your own writing. It can definitely enrich the descriptive power of your poetry and give it a human face. 

Steve Wheeler


Main image source: World Atlas

2 comments:

  1. Another helpful and informative article Steve. Thank you!

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  2. These articles are so helpful Steve. I have made cliff notes of the lessons to keep them fresh in my mind should I hit the old brick wall… each one inspires… this one on personification hit the spot for me and helped me come up with a couple poetic zingers! Thank you!!

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