Personification: Giving Life To The Unalive

Personification is a figure of speech that involves attributing or ascribing human qualities or characteristics to nonhuman things or objects. Personification in British English is pronounced as puh-so-nuh-fuh-kay-shn. The Oxford Dictionary defines personification as “the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.” Personification helps to create more vivid descriptions and aids the reader’s imagination in writing. 

How To Use Personification

The main purpose of the figure of speech, personification, is to help readers connect with or relate more to inanimate or nonhuman objects and to give readers a clear mental picture. This is why when we hear examples of personification like “the sky is weeping”, it automatically clicks and we get a mental image of rain. Using personification involves giving human characteristics to inanimate objects. For example;

• The wooden floors of the house groaned as Jola moved about on them. (The groaning of the wooden floors suggests that they creak after many years of usage.)
• The Iroko tree stood tall and proud. (This suggests the magnificent height of the Iroko tree).

Another thing to note about using personification involves making sure to stay relevant to the point. For example, using the first example in a paragraph that has nothing to do with Jola walking or moving on the floor would be irrelevant. 

Sentence Examples Of Personification

1. The flowers are dancing to the tune of the wind.
2. The stars winked at me.
3. Sleep called out to me and forced itself on me.
4. The rain knocked on my windows angrily.
5. The old car had a seizure and gave up the ghost.
6. Mischief gleamed in her eyes.
7. The kettle whistled.
8. Monday moved lazily like a snail before giving way to Tuesday.
9. The rumour travelled fast, spilling secrets along the way.
10. The drugs stared me down, willing me to cave to them.
11. Death crept in and stole one of them.
12. The couch groaned in protest as the fat man sat on it. 
13. The pen guided her hand and told her the answers.
14. Actions speak louder than words.
15. My shoes hid from me, wanting to take a day off.
16. The examination hall’s ceiling mocked me as I searched for answers. 
17. The cactus plant that survived stood alone in the middle of the ruin.
18. The mirror sang praises of my beauty, but my camera mocked me condescendingly. 
19. The clothes hanging on the line danced with the wind.
20. The sky is mourning.
21. Love is blind.
22. Time waits for no one.
23. The clouds wept.
24. The cracked soil begged for water.
25. My hunger was unwilling to understand the economic state of the country.
26. The hot oil cried in protest as Bode splashed water on it.
27. Jealousy blinded me.
28. The alarm clock yelled at me.
29. Fear manipulated me into doing what I did.
30. COVID-19 trudged forward, defeating nation after nation.

Examples Of Personification In Literature (Poems)

1. Death, be not proud, though some have called thee/ Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so. (Excerpt from John Donne’s Death Be Not Proud).
2. Across the wall of the world/ A River sings a beautiful song. It says/ Come, rest here by my side. (Excerpt from Maya Angelou’s On The Pulse Of The Morning).
3. Because I could not stop for Death/ He kindly stopped for me. (Excerpt from Emily Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop For Death).
4. Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes. (Excerpt from John Keats’ Ode To A Nightingale).
5. When all at once I saw a crowd/ A host, of golden daffodils/ Beside the lake, beneath the trees/ Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. (Excerpt from William Woodsworth’s I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud).
6. Love had the feather and muscle of wings/ And had come to live with us. (Excerpt from Eavan Boland’s Love).
7. I looked up from my writing/ And gave a start to see/ As if my rapt in my inditing/ The moon’s full gaze on me. (Excerpt from Thomas Hardy’s I Looked Up From My Writing).
8. Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy and lips and cheeks. (Excerpt from William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116).
9. “Ah, William, we’re weary of weather,”  said the sunflowers, shining with dew. (Excerpt from William Blake’s Two Sunflowers Move In The Yellow Room).
10. Your hand is heavy, Night, upon my brows. (Excerpt from Wole Soyinka’s Night).

Examples Of Personification In Literature (Prose And Plays)

1. The earth does not swallow up its children. (Excerpt from Wole Soyinka’s Death And The King’s Horseman.)
2. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon/ Who is already sick and pale with grief/ That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. (Excerpt from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.)
3. The hunger that held the two sides of one’s stomach and squeezed them so tightly that the owner of the stomach would whine and rumble in agony. (Excerpt from Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen).
4. Death, in approaching him, had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim. (Excerpt from Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart).
5. This is what the stewpot said to the fire… (Excerpt from Wole Soyinka’s The Lion And The Jewel).

Difference Between Personification And Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a god, animal, or object. Both personification and anthropomorphism attribute human characteristics to nonhuman entities when creating vivid imagery and descriptions in communication. However, they differ in that anthropomorphism is when a nonhuman character behaves human-like, while personification is the representation of an abstract quality in human form. An example of anthropomorphism is represented by the animal characters in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. 

Conclusion

One of the main purposes of personification, as stated above, is to help readers connect with or relate more to inanimate or nonhuman objects and to give readers a clear mental picture. Personification makes writing more interesting to read and helps to attract more readers. I hope this article has been able to help you understand the use of personification. Make sure to check our blog for other articles that might benefit your English communication.