Personification is attributing human qualities to non-human objects. Love can be personified by describing it as having human actions or characteristics. This can be seen in literature, poetry, and everyday language. Recognizing personification in metaphors or similes can be more difficult, but identifying if they project human characteristics onto an object can help. Practice is key to recognizing figures of speech.
The key to recognizing the personification of love in language, literature, or speech is to fully understand what “personification” and “personification” mean. Once you have a firm grasp on these words, their usage will be almost unmistakable. To identify the personification in relation to love, you also need to know when love is being referred to. This should go without saying, but in some cases the love may be part of another metaphor or not directly stated.
The primary definition of personification is to attribute the qualities of a living person to an object. An easy memory aid is to remember that the personification contains the word “person”. Whenever something that isn’t a person is portrayed as something a person does, you have personification; therefore, whenever love is represented as behaving like a person, or having the characteristics of a person, one has the personification of love.
In poetry, literature, and everyday language, personification is used to make language more interesting. If a “storm has brought forth much rain and thunder” is said to be true, but it is not very lively. Using the personification, it could instead be said that “the raging storm threw buckets of rain on the heads of the people, laughing with loud cackles”. Here, the storm is given human qualities and actions. It is personified as being angry, throwing things and laughing. By giving the storm the actions and characteristics of a person, it comes to life.
The personification of love works the same way. Changing the expression “he was in love” to “love grabbed him and did not let go” personifies him. Love is depicted as having human arms and performing human actions. The same would be true if one said “love picked him up and threw him to the wolves”. The possibilities are limitless and don’t need to be physical.
Less physical examples of the personification of love might include expressions such as “love called its name,” “love is a cruel mistress,” or “love waits for no man.” Only real people can be a lover, call a name, or wait; thus, these are all examples of personification. A simple technique is to look for descriptive language, then ask yourself if what is being described is something a person does. If the answer is yes, you have the personification.
Recognizing the personification of love in other figures of speech as metaphors or similes can be a little more difficult. Identify the other figures of speech first, then ask yourself if they also project the characteristics of a person onto an object; if so, they are also personification. To use a few examples, if love is represented metaphorically as a dagger, or an arrow, or the wind, and then later, the “dagger tears open an old wound”, “the arrow squints at a distant target” or “the wind blows its last dying breath,” personification is taking place. The subject is still love, but indirectly it is. As with recognizing any figure of speech, practice makes perfect.
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