Brandi Harbaugh
Professor Boudreaux
English 255 Section 00
19 February 2018
Seeing in an Unusual Light The wind howled through the house, sounding as if voices were calling to the man inside. He stood abruptly and ran out the door, its’ hinges screaming as they were pushed to their limit, into the chilled night air. He heard the voices of the wind; the bumping of the rain on the forest floor. The wind howled once more urging him forward into the forest. The branches of the trees dancing in the howling wind, as if calling him to join them in their harmonious splendor. The squeaking of the trees trunks as they rocked in the wind made more music sound throughout the forest. He smiled as his legs pushed him deeper into the music filled forest. …show more content…
One example is in the second line of the poem, “The vacuum cleaner sulks in the corner closet,” (2). The verb sulks, gives that human-like quality to the vacuum, which is an inanimate object. Although this is an inanimate object using that personification makes the reader feel as if it is gloomy and dreary to start. As the poem continues on there is more personification to give the reader more imagery in their mind of what the poem is talking about. This is in lines 3-5, “Its bag limp as a stopped lung, its mouth / Grinning into the floor, maybe at my / Slovenly life, my dog-dead youth” (3-5). This adds to the gloomy, dreary image the reader already has about the poem. The bag of the vacuum cannot actually limp, nor does it even have a mouth. This is how the author uses the personification to create that image for the reader, through allowing the inanimate object to have human-like qualities to provoke emotions within the reader. As the poem continues there is more personification in the poem “To see the bag swell like a belly, eating the dust / And woolen mice, and begin to howl” (9-10). When the reader thinks about how a vacuum works this personification, in lines 9-10, really provoke the thought that the vacuum is being overworked. The reason they get that impression is through the personification of the vacuum beginning to …show more content…
In the poem “After a Death” the line that shows personification is in the line “I turn his absence into a chair” (2). The chair cannot be an absence, but the absence of something is a human feeling and that is where the personification comes from in this line. It can be compared to how the loss of the loved one in Nemerov’s poem is personified through the vacuum; in Borsons’ it is personified through the chair. In the dissection of this poem the chair is a representation of the loss of a loved one, just as the vacuum was in Nemerov’s poem. The representation of the loss is proclaimed through the personification of the object in question. The chair is representing the loss of a loved one through more means that just the stated personification, but also the actual meaning of what a chair accomplishes. A chair is used to support the weight of something. It is commonly said that those who are considered loved ones are support systems, hence the chair supporting the speaker in the poem. This is where the literal meaning helps define the personification in the poem to create a more vivid image to the reader. Another personification in this poem by Borson may not be as clear, but reading through it and making the connections helps with understanding the poem. “And I can return then with my useless love / to rest, / because the chair is there” (7-9). In
Professor Boudreaux
English 255 Section 00
19 February 2018
Seeing in an Unusual Light The wind howled through the house, sounding as if voices were calling to the man inside. He stood abruptly and ran out the door, its’ hinges screaming as they were pushed to their limit, into the chilled night air. He heard the voices of the wind; the bumping of the rain on the forest floor. The wind howled once more urging him forward into the forest. The branches of the trees dancing in the howling wind, as if calling him to join them in their harmonious splendor. The squeaking of the trees trunks as they rocked in the wind made more music sound throughout the forest. He smiled as his legs pushed him deeper into the music filled forest. …show more content…
One example is in the second line of the poem, “The vacuum cleaner sulks in the corner closet,” (2). The verb sulks, gives that human-like quality to the vacuum, which is an inanimate object. Although this is an inanimate object using that personification makes the reader feel as if it is gloomy and dreary to start. As the poem continues on there is more personification to give the reader more imagery in their mind of what the poem is talking about. This is in lines 3-5, “Its bag limp as a stopped lung, its mouth / Grinning into the floor, maybe at my / Slovenly life, my dog-dead youth” (3-5). This adds to the gloomy, dreary image the reader already has about the poem. The bag of the vacuum cannot actually limp, nor does it even have a mouth. This is how the author uses the personification to create that image for the reader, through allowing the inanimate object to have human-like qualities to provoke emotions within the reader. As the poem continues there is more personification in the poem “To see the bag swell like a belly, eating the dust / And woolen mice, and begin to howl” (9-10). When the reader thinks about how a vacuum works this personification, in lines 9-10, really provoke the thought that the vacuum is being overworked. The reason they get that impression is through the personification of the vacuum beginning to …show more content…
In the poem “After a Death” the line that shows personification is in the line “I turn his absence into a chair” (2). The chair cannot be an absence, but the absence of something is a human feeling and that is where the personification comes from in this line. It can be compared to how the loss of the loved one in Nemerov’s poem is personified through the vacuum; in Borsons’ it is personified through the chair. In the dissection of this poem the chair is a representation of the loss of a loved one, just as the vacuum was in Nemerov’s poem. The representation of the loss is proclaimed through the personification of the object in question. The chair is representing the loss of a loved one through more means that just the stated personification, but also the actual meaning of what a chair accomplishes. A chair is used to support the weight of something. It is commonly said that those who are considered loved ones are support systems, hence the chair supporting the speaker in the poem. This is where the literal meaning helps define the personification in the poem to create a more vivid image to the reader. Another personification in this poem by Borson may not be as clear, but reading through it and making the connections helps with understanding the poem. “And I can return then with my useless love / to rest, / because the chair is there” (7-9). In