10 Fun Examples of Personification in Poetry

A more interesting description could be, “The sun stretched its golden arms, climbed above the mountains, and smiled down on us.” Giving the sun “golden arms” creates a vivid image of the sun’s rays and “climbed” makes the sun more like a person getting out of bed. “Smiled” gives you a positive feeling about the day.

The following examples of personification are found in literature: From “Blackbird” by The Beatles: “Blackbird singing in the dead of night…” The blackbird is given the human power of song and is described as singing.

Personification sentence example. He was the personification of evil. She is the personification of the earth suffering from drought, on which the fertilizing rain descends from heaven. Her bright and airy living room decor is the personification of spring.

Examples of dead metaphors include: “raining cats and dogs,” “throw the baby out with the bathwater,” and “heart of gold.” With a good, living metaphor, you get that fun moment of thinking about what it would look like if Elvis were actually singing to a hound dog (for example).

• #1: Hey Diddle, Diddle (by Mother Goose)
• #2: Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room (by William Blake)
• #3: She sweeps with many-colored brooms (by Emily Dickinson)
• #4: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (by William Wordsworth)
• #5: Take a Poem to Lunch (by Denise Rodgers)

Metaphor is a common poetic device where an object in, or the subject of, a poem is described as being the same as another otherwise unrelated object.

In poetry, personification is used to allow non-human things to take on human traits and emotions. Poets can use personification to make inanimate objects, such as a mirror, express feelings and perform actions.

Personification connects readers with the object that is personified. Personification can make descriptions of non-human entities more vivid, or can help readers understand, sympathize with, or react emotionally to non-human characters.

How to Write a Personification

1. Think of the feeling you want to express or draw out.
2. Now think of a situation that would fit that feeling.
3. Use personification by describing the objects and scene as if they were people showing that feeling.

D. H. Lawrence uses personification throughout his poem “Snake.” In order use this literary device he gives human qualities to the snake, and speaks about it as if it is a person. The narrator describes the snake as “someone” instead of as an animal.

You can identify personification by noticing any moments where the author describes something non-human with human characteristics. Personification examples could include a writer comparing the sun’s warmth to the arms of a loving mother.

As nouns the difference between hyperbole and personification. is that hyperbole is (uncountable) extreme exaggeration or overstatement; especially as a literary or rhetorical device while personification is a person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea; an embodiment or exemplification.

In practice, hyperbole might resemble a metaphor, which is a comparison between two things. Hyperbole always uses exaggeration, while metaphors sometimes do. This is a metaphor: “His words were music to my ears.” The speaker compares words to music.

Examples of Hyperbole in Everyday Speech

• He’s running faster than the wind.
• This bag weighs a ton.
• That man is as tall as a house.
• This is the worst day of my life.
• The shopping cost me a million dollars.
• My dad will kill me when he comes home.
• Your skin is softer than silk.
• She’s as skinny as a toothpick.

Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration for effect. The origin of hyperbole as a word comes from the Greek, where its original definition was “a throwing (or casting) beyond.” Hyperbole has been widely used in literature since the Renaissance. Hyperbole often takes the form of a simile: “I’m as hungry as a bear.”

By contrast, metaphors do not use the words “as” or “like.” For example, you could write, “A is B” to make your comparison, even though A is not literally the same thing as B. The main takeaway here is that all similes are metaphors but not all metaphors are similes.

Everyday Life Metaphors

• John’s suggestion was just a Band-Aid for the problem.
• The cast on his broken leg was a plaster shackle.
• Laughter is the music of the soul.
• America is a melting pot.
• Her lovely voice was music to his ears.
• The world is a stage.
• My kid’s room is a disaster area.
• Life is a rollercoaster.

Unlike a simile, a metaphor “does not use connective words such as like, as, or resembles in making the comparison.”2 However, many metaphors use words like “of” or “is” to link one part to another, including “a heart of gold” and “time is a thief”. On the other hand, the toughest metaphors are indirect and implied.

A metaphor is a comparison between two things that share a common characteristic. One thing is equal to another because it has this characteristic. For example, “You are my sunshine,” just like the sun brings warmth and happiness to someone’s day; you do the same, by bringing happiness to someone’s day.