Metaphor & Figuration
Personification
Giving human qualities, actions, or feelings to something non-human: nations conceive, winds sigh. The description lets the reader imagine it acting or feeling like a person.
"Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me –" — Dickinson
Don't confuse it with Prosopopoeia, Pathetic Fallacy. Prosopopoeia goes further and gives the thing a speaking voice. Pathetic fallacy is personification of nature specifically, colored by the observer's emotion.
A similar example that does not qualify
The wind blew through the window.
Blowing is an ordinary action of wind. An active verb alone does not personify it.
Counterexample written for practice.
Compare sentences using Personification →Examples
The empty house waited patiently for its owners.
The house is given the human capacity to wait with patience.
Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me –
Death receives a personal pronoun and acts like a courteous caller who stops for someone.
A possible effect: The courteous action makes the encounter with death disconcertingly social and calm.
Practice explaining this example →Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!
The winds are given cheeks and commanded to rage; they are also directly addressed.
A possible effect: Giving the storm a face and temper lets Lear speak to it as an opponent or companion in anger.
Practice explaining this example →The wind begged to be let in.
A human request is attributed to the wind.
A possible effect: “Begged” lets the noise sound like a needy visitor seeking entry.
Practice explaining this example →The old house sulked behind its shuttered windows.
A house is assigned the human mood and behavior of sulking.
A possible effect: The closed windows can seem like a refusal to engage with the outside world.
Practice explaining this example →Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as personification.
Metaphor 22 Anaphora 17 Antithesis 11 Parallelism 11 Passive Voice 10 Apposition / Appositive 10 Irony 8 Litotes 8
The rest of the family
Metaphor Simile Catachresis Metonymy Synecdoche Prosopopoeia Pathetic Fallacy Transferred Epithet / Hypallage Metalepsis Symbol Allusion Mythopoesis