Question

Use the excerpt from the poem below to answer the question. (By Oscar Wilde)

"And the plane to the pine-tree is whispering some tale of love

Till it rustles with laughter and tosses its mantle of green,

And the gloom of the wych-elm’s hollow is lit with the iris sheen

Of the burnished rainbow throat and the silver breast of a dove."

How does the poet use personification?

Answer 1

The poet uses personification by assigning human characteristics or attributes to inanimate objects. In this excerpt, the poem personifies the plane and pine-tree by suggesting that they are whispering a tale of love. Additionally, the wych-elm's hollow is described as having a "rainbow throat" and a "silver breast" which are human-like qualities assigned to the tree.