Personification In Divorce By Billy Collins

Symbolism and Personification in Poetry Poetry in some way, shape or form, gives realistic ideas to even objects that reflect upon an everyday part of life by using symbolism and personification. When reviewing “Divorce” by Billy Collins the cutlery is personified and distinctively used throughout the whole short poem as (come back to this). In chapter four, Johnson and Arp tells the reader “Personification consists of giving the attributes of a human being to an animal, an object, or a concept”(797). Primarily the whole idea around personification is for the reader to visualize what the reading is trying to create an image of and understand why and how human attributes are given to non human things. Collins writes, “Once, two spoons in bed,/now tinted forks/across a granite table/and the …show more content…
Simply by mentioning “bed”, it is implied that the two spoons are “spooning” in bed. Literally this can not happen, but figuratively, through the use of personification. Readers get the sense that at one point, two lovers, personified through spoons actually loved each other. “Tinted” is used as being that the forks have changed it’s “color” than before which is not possible without personification. The audience can then understand that the couple were in a much better relationship prior to the change. Now, the “granite table” is the foundation of where the relationship stands and how the lovers make it appear. It’s personified to be smooth on the surface but rough on the inside. Continuing, the “knives” are represented to be cutting away at the relationship. Theoretically, the knives are actually lawyers who will take care of any divorcement happens.