Question

Poem: "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair
Which BEST describes the type of personification used in these lines?
A) thought
B) feeling
C) action
D) characteristic

Answer 1

Answer:

• 'Characteric' describes the type of the personification used in these lines: "A tree that may in Summer wear / A nest of robins in her hair".

Explanation:

• The given lines are taken from Joyce Kilmer's 'Trees'.
• Personification is a figure of speech which is used to represent an ideas or inanimate objects with the attributes of a living being.
• Here in the poem the poet has characterized or personified the tree by the words of 'wear' and 'hair' because only human beings have 'hair' and they can 'wear'. But the poet said," In summer a tree wear a nest of robins in her hair.
• Here hair refers to leaves, so 'characteristic' is right.

Answer 2

The correct answer to this question is option C) Action.

Explanation:

• These lines of the poem are an example of action personification.

• Action personification is when an inanimate object is described to do something that only humans are capable of doing.

• The tree is said to be wearing a nest of robins in her hair, but a tree cannot put a nest on itself, so this signifies that the act of wearing a nest is done by the tree, which is an action personification.