From the given options, select the figure of speech (Poetic Device) used in the expression.
“The smiling young trees provided a strange comfort”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Personification
Trees cannot smile. "Smiling" lends them a human expression, so they seem to welcome and comfort the people around them.
| Option | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Personification (answer) | Personification gives human qualities, actions or feelings to a non-human thing. | The old house groaned in the storm. |
| (2) Metaphor | A metaphor says one thing is another. The line does not call the trees anything else, it only gives them a human action. | The classroom was a zoo when the teacher left. |
| (3) Simile | There is no comparison with "like" or "as". | He ran like the wind. |
| (4) Oxymoron | No two opposite words are joined. "Strange comfort" is unusual, but strange and comfort are not opposites. | The villagers met the news with cheerful sadness. |