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Personification is a figure of speech, a poetic device in which human attributes are given to animals, non-living things or ideas. The objects speak/behave like humans, with human emotions in such cases.
Example:
Personifying animals:
- The cat asked the mouse for a dinner treat.
- The dog asked his master to let him inside.
Personifying ideas:
- Love is blind.
- His anger oozed out in his words.
Personifying non-living things:
- The popcorn popped out of the bowl immediately in the oven.
- The sun shined and smiled upon us, early in the morning.
- When human qualities are given to objects, the writer/poet can convey the meaning easily.
- The understanding of the idea is made easier when objects are personified.
- It helps to build a character around the object.
- Makes the text/poetry more interesting and fun to read.
- Literal meanings are to be ignored in such cases.
Personification from "The Ball Poem":
I saw it go Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over — there it is in the water
- The poet describes the ball merrily bouncing down the street. The term merrily denotes an emotion which is capable by only humans. Therefore the ball is personified here.
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