Dec 22, 2009

Guide to Literary Terms | Personification

Personification - a figure of speech in which abstractions, animals, ideas, and inanimate objects are endowed with human form, character, traits, or sensibilities. An entirely imaginary creature or person also may be conceived of as representing an idea or object. Like a metaphor, personification is a frequent resource in poetry.

The etymology of this term is the same as that of persona.

A colloquial example of personification is when one refers to a car as “she.” Another example of personification is “the wind shrieked through the window.”

see: allegory