Literature: Figures of Speech - Tuesday, 4 August Exercise 1: Identify and understand personification
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow'.
I meant to do my work today
Richard Le Gallienne
I meant to do my work today,
But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling me.
And the wind went sighing over the land,
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand -
So what could I do but laugh and go?
Questions
1. What human qualities are referred to in the poem?
2. Why did the poet write this poem?
3. What two figures of speech is used in line 2? What effect does it have?