Comparisons
A simile is a figure of speech in which two things, unlike in every way except one, are compared. A word such as 'like' or 'as' is generally used to draw attention to the comparison:
THE OLD MEN ADMIRING THEMSELVES IN WATER
By WB Yeats
I heard the old, old men say,
‘Everything alters,
And one by one we drop away.’
They had hands like claws, and their knees
Were twisted like the old thorn-trees
By the waters.
I heard the old, old men say,
‘All that’s beautiful drifts away
Like the waters.’
Metaphors:
A metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is identified totally with another. It is not 'as' or 'like' the thing to which it is compared; the object becomes the thing to which it is compared. The object takes on the attributes or qualities of the thing that it is compared to:
FOG
By Carl Sandburg
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Personification:
To personify something is to give human characteristics to it. In other words, a non-human thing is referred to in human terms:
WHISPERING LEAVES
By Julie O’Callaghan
I am wondering
what it is
the leaves are whispering to me.
Which language they speak.
It doesn’t seem funny
but it might be.
It takes years
getting leaf ears
only there aren’t
many quiet days
to sit out and learn
leaf talk.
Leaves, I’m listening.
Anthropomorphism:
Personification applies to non-living objects. When we give human characteristics or divine qualities to living creatures (e.g. animals), we call it anthropomorphism:
ANIMAL RIGHTS
By Lindsay MacRae
Our cat
won’t use the cat-flap
any more.
He’s started to fight
for his Animal Rights
and insists
that he uses the door.
A simile is a figure of speech in which two things, unlike in every way except one, are compared. A word such as 'like' or 'as' is generally used to draw attention to the comparison:
THE OLD MEN ADMIRING THEMSELVES IN WATER
By WB Yeats
I heard the old, old men say,
‘Everything alters,
And one by one we drop away.’
They had hands like claws, and their knees
Were twisted like the old thorn-trees
By the waters.
I heard the old, old men say,
‘All that’s beautiful drifts away
Like the waters.’
Metaphors:
A metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is identified totally with another. It is not 'as' or 'like' the thing to which it is compared; the object becomes the thing to which it is compared. The object takes on the attributes or qualities of the thing that it is compared to:
FOG
By Carl Sandburg
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Personification:
To personify something is to give human characteristics to it. In other words, a non-human thing is referred to in human terms:
WHISPERING LEAVES
By Julie O’Callaghan
I am wondering
what it is
the leaves are whispering to me.
Which language they speak.
It doesn’t seem funny
but it might be.
It takes years
getting leaf ears
only there aren’t
many quiet days
to sit out and learn
leaf talk.
Leaves, I’m listening.
Anthropomorphism:
Personification applies to non-living objects. When we give human characteristics or divine qualities to living creatures (e.g. animals), we call it anthropomorphism:
ANIMAL RIGHTS
By Lindsay MacRae
Our cat
won’t use the cat-flap
any more.
He’s started to fight
for his Animal Rights
and insists
that he uses the door.