Day 17 – How to Write a “Personification Poem” for “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth

So, you’ll have some leeway in writing your poem(s) today in that I’m only suggesting they contain personification (lots of it, if possible), but use any format you wish. Why is personification useful? It provides energy, emotion, greater description, and personality to your writing, among other things.

We use personification quite frequently in our daily conversations: 

1. My phone died.
2. The beach is calling my name.
3. The rain kissed her cheeks.
4. The wind seems so angry today.
5. My car hates me.
6. Lightning danced overhead.
7. That chocolate bar spoke to me.

Nursery rhymes are good examples: Hey, Diddle Diddle . . . the dish ran away with the spoon

Using personification in poetry can be very effective. It works really well when writing about nature or the weather. Think about the personification done in Beauty and the Beast – the clock, candelabra, teapot, etc.

So, it’s helpful to do a little brainstorming. Think of some intimate objects. Just look around the room or in a picture book for ideas. Think of some human characteristics or traits that you can attribute to it (try to come up with strong words). For example: an oak tree might be depicted as strong, unyielding, protective, etc.

Choose a poetic form ~ free verse is probably the easiest for a personification poem but try writing one within the limitations of a specific type of poetry – several we have done this year require a certain number of syllables per line. Use one of those, if you wish. I hope you have time to experiment with several poems, and try out more than one poetry from. Just make it a poem that features personification. It’s quite fun.

So, here’s an example using yesterday’s poetry form ~ rictameter (a set number of syllables per line). Not a great example, but you get the idea ~

Camry

My Toyota

A dear and loyal friend

Patiently endures my road trips

We’ve listened to many audio books

She likes Fablehaven books best

My car’s a refuge and

Dependable

Camry 

When I used to teach school I always had the kids write personification poetry about the weather when we studied it in science. They were so creative. Looking forward to your personification poems. Cheers!!

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or you FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.