Personification is a poetic device where animals, plants, or even inanimate objects are given human qualities, resulting in a poem full of imagery and description. It is a figure of speech in which the poet describes an abstraction, a thing, or a nonhuman form as if it were a person. Personification is a type of metaphor poets use to give human characteristics to non-human beings, inanimate objects, or abstract ideas. It is a literary device that entails the projection of human characteristics onto inanimate objects in order to create powerful imagery.

Examples of personification in poetry include William Wordsworths "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," where the daffodils are personified as "fluttering and dancing in the breeze". Another example is Emily Dickinsons "Because I could not stop for Death," where death is personified as "kindly" and "civility". Personification is often used in symbolic or allegorical poetry, such as Edmund Spensers The Faerie Queene, where the virtue of Justice takes the form of the knight Artegal.

Personification is used in poetry for a variety of reasons. Poets can use it to describe abstract concepts, develop relatability, and/or enhance visualization. It makes the world more vivid by illustrating an idea or reflecting a characters mood, and it helps readers see humanity in the world.