Figures of Speech Personification
Personification is a literary device in which human qualities and characteristics are attributed to non-human entities, animals, or abstract concepts. It involves giving human-like traits, emotions, or behaviours to something that is not human. This technique is often used to make descriptions more vivid, engaging, and relatable for the reader. By personifying objects or ideas, writers can create a more vivid and imaginative portrayal.
Functions of Personification:
Vivid Description: It brings lifeless objects or abstract concepts to life. It makes them more relatable by assigning human qualities.
Read More: Literary Term Play
Emotional Impact: Personification arouses emotions by attributing human feelings to non-human entities.
Communication: It simplifies complex ideas by portraying them in human terms. This makes it easier for readers to understand and connect with the intended message.
Symbolism: Personification can symbolize abstract concepts, turning them into characters that represent broader ideas, helping to convey complex themes effectively.
Examples:
1. “When well-apparelled April on the heel
Of limping winter treads.“[ Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare]
Ans: There are two personification examples here. April cannot put on a dress, and winter does not limp, and it does not have a heel on which a month can walk. Shakespeare personifies the month of April and the winter season by giving them two distinct human qualities. Personifications here add vividness to expression.
2. Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee. [Wordsworth]
Ans: This is an example of personification. Here, “England”, an inanimate object, is endowed with a human quality that she (England) needs thee (Milton). Personification here serves the purpose of giving deeper meanings to literary text.
Read More: Literary Term Elegy
Previous Years Questions and Solutions
NTRCA Exam-2006
1. Time let me hail and climb.
Ans. This is an example of personification. Here, an abstract idea of ‘time’ is endowed with the personality of a living being having the power of letting someone hail and climb. Personification here serves the purpose of giving deeper meanings to literary text.
NTRCA Exam-2007, 2019
1. Let not ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys and destiny obscure.
Ans. This is an example of personification. “Ambition” is an abstract thing. But here, “Ambition” is endowed with a human quality – having the capacity of ‘mocking. This personification helps us to understand the nature of “Ambition”.
NTRCA Exam- 2009
1. But Nature in due course of time, once more
Shall here put on her beauty and her bloom.
Ans. This is an example of personification. Here, “Nature”, an inanimate object, is endowed with the quality of a living being – putting on her beauty and her bloom. Personification here adds vividness to expression.
NTRCA Exam-2010, 2012, 2014
1. Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes. [Keats]
Ans. This is an example of personification. Beauty is an abstract thing. But here, “Beauty” is endowed with a human quality – fails to keep her lustrous eyes. Personification here serves the purpose of giving deeper meanings to literary text.
NTRCA Exam-2013
1. Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.
Ans. This is an example of personification. Here, “Nature”, an inanimate object, is endowed with the quality of a living being – (not) having the quality of betraying. Personification here serves the purpose of giving deeper meanings to literary text.
Read More: Figures of Speech Anti-Climax
NTRCA Exam-2014
1. Necessity is the mother of invention.
Ans. This is an instance of personification. Here, an abstract idea, ‘necessity’, is endowed with the personality of a living being having the power of invention. Personification here serves the purpose of understanding the nature of ‘necessity’ in a better way.
NTRCA Exam-2014
1. The curfew tolls the knell of the parting day.
Ans. Abstractions like curfew and day are invested with human qualities and are imagined as human beings. The curfew is tolling the knell like a Sexton, and the day is dying like a man. So it is an example of Personification. It is also an example of a Metaphor because here, the evening is compared to the death.
NTRCA Exam-2014
1. And Joy whose hand is ever at his lips bidding adieu. [Keats]
Ans. This is an example of personification. Here, an inanimate object, “Joy”, is endowed with the personality of a living being – bidding someone adieu, keeping his hand at his lips. This personification helps us to understand the nature of “Joy”.
NTRCA Exam- 2018
1. O Judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts. (Julius Caesar, Shakespeare)
Ans. This is an example of personification. Here, an inanimate object, “Judgment”, is endowed with the personality of a living being going to the slayers of Julius Caesar. Here, the speaker (Antony) speaks of the thing, Judgment, as a person, claiming that it has fled and left humans for animals. Personification here serves the purpose of giving deeper meanings to literary text.
NTRCA Exam-2019
1. Into the jaws of Death
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred. (“The Charge of the Light Brigade”, Tennyson)
Ans. This is an example of personification. The speaker suggests that six hundred men (soldiers) were marching to their deaths. Here, Inanimate objects ‘Death’ and ‘Hell’ are personified by describing them as having ‘Jaws’ and ‘mouth’ like a person. Personification here serves the purpose of giving deeper meanings to literary text.
NTRCA Exam-17th
1. Peace hath her victories
No less renowned than war.
Ans. The personification in the phrase “Peace hath her victories” attributes human qualities, specifically the ability to achieve victories, to the abstract concept of peace. This personification suggests that peace can achieve notable successes, just like war can. By using “her,” the poet gives a feminine gender to peace. The function of personification in the given line is to attribute human qualities, specifically, the ability to achieve victories.
2. 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.
Ans. Here, the daffodils are given human qualities. “Crowd” and “host” are terms typically used for groups of people, not flowers. This personification suggests that the daffodils are alive, vibrant, and capable of gathering in large numbers. It emphasizes the abundance and impressive sight of the flowers.
