Hi, vigilare-ga
Thanks so much for your question.
Yes, it is perfectly correct to personify objects.
According to The New Fowler's Modern English Usage...
"Personification arises partly as a natural or rhetorical phenomenon
and partly as a result of the loss of grammatical gender at the end of
the Anglo-Saxon period. In Old English a pronoun used in place of a
masculine noun was invariably he, in place of a feminine noun heo ( =
she), and in place of a neuter noun hit ( = it). When the system broke
up and the old grammatical cases disappeared, the obvious result was
the narrowing down of he to refer only to a male person or animal, she
to a female person or animal, and it to nearly all remaining nouns. At
the point of loss of grammatical gender, however, he began to be
applied 'illogically' to some things personified as masculine
(mountains, rivers, oak-trees, etc., as the Oxford English Dictionary
has it), and she to some things personified as feminine (ships, boats,
carriages, utensils, etc.). For example, the Oxford English Dictionary
cites examples of he used of the world (14c.), the philosopher's stone
(14c.), a fire (15c.), an argument (15c.), the sun (16c.), etc.; and
examples of she used of a ship (14c.), a door (14c.), a fire (16c.), a
cannon (17c.), a kettle (19c.), and so on. At the present time such
personification is comparatively rare, but examples can still be
found: e.g. Great Britain is renowned for her stiff upper lip approach
to adversity; I bought that yacht last year: she rides the water
beautifully; (in Australia and NZ) she's right; she's jake; she's a
big country, etc.
Personification has long been used as a literary device, especially in
poetry: e.g.
Ay, in the very temple of delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine.
(Keats, 1819)
In the ordinary language, personified uses of words are widespread and
so familiar that they pass virtually unnoticed. Proverbs are fertile
territory for such uses (Brevity is the soul of wit; the wish is
father to the thought); and such ordinary metaphors as the heart of
the matter, the mouth of the river, and to eat one's words are used
all the time."
The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, © Oxford University Press 1968
Whew, that's a mouthful! For a more condensed version we'll turn to
The Columbia Guide to Standard American English...
PERSONIFICATION
is a figure of speech wherein an idea, an object, or some other
inanimate entity is represented as though it were a person: Then
Lechery appeared, leering and making lewd gestures toward his
audience.
The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993
Columbia University Press.
Search strategy: "english usage" personification
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22english+usage%22+personification
Great Grammer Links
Bartleby.com offers many dictionaries and usage guides.
http://www.bartleby.com/reference/
xreferplus is a giant online reference library that provides you with
access to 120 reference books. xreferplus includes encyclopedias,
dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations, not to mention a range
of subject-specific titles covering everything from art to accountancy
and literature to law.
http://www.xrefer.com/search.jsp
So go ahead and personify to your heart's content. Which personifies
"heart!"
If you need further information or clarification please let me know.
wayga-ga |
