Chapter Four: “Personification” in Yang Huan’s Children’s Poetry

Section One: The Aesthetic Foundation — Empathy

From the perspective of modern aesthetics, “personification” originates from “empathy” (empathy). “Empathy” means projecting one’s own emotions onto external objects, as if feeling that the external objects possess the same emotions. This is an extremely common aesthetic experience. Based on the author’s long-term and extensive reading of modern poetry, three expressive rhetorical devices with the highest frequency of use have been summarized: metaphor, description, and personification. Especially in children’s poetry, the frequency of personification is even higher. This is certainly because, in the process of children’s physical and psychological development—during the Preoperational stage and the Concrete Operational stage—children still retain an intuitive (instinctive) mode of thinking toward concrete objects. Even though such intuition often does not conform to logic and empirical laws, it embodies the innocent and lovable essence of children.

Section Two: The Rhetorical Structure of “Personification”

The rhetorical structure of “personification” includes the “subject of personification” (the personifying entity), the “object of personification” (the entity being personified), and the “personifying words” applicable to the subject of personification. Although the “subject of personification” in personification is explicit, it generally does not appear in the actual text; instead, only the “personifying words” are transferred and applied to the “object of personification.” “The most common practice is to use verbs and adjectives that describe people to describe things, or to use personal pronouns and nouns referring to people to designate things, or to use names of things to refer to people.” Personification also possesses imitativeness (also called “imitability”): through associative resemblance, it imitates A as B in writing, enabling A to possess the characteristics or image of B. Therefore, between the object of personification and the subject of personification, there often exists a point of similarity.

Section Three: The Rhetoric of “Personification” in Yang Huan’s Children’s Poetry

In the history of Taiwanese modern poetry, the poet Yang Huan was undoubtedly a pioneer of children’s poetry. After coming to Taiwan with the military, he began creating children’s poems of considerable quality, continuously injecting a stream of living water into children’s literature, which at that time was still in a desolate state. The “personification” in Yang Huan’s children’s poetry mainly includes three types: “anthropomorphism,” “objectification,” and “one object personifying another object.”

I. Anthropomorphism

This refers to describing a thing by comparing it to a person, projecting human emotions and characteristics onto it. According to subject matter, it can be divided into:

1. Personification of living beings;
2. Personification of non-living things;
3. Personification of abstract objects or concepts.

For expressive needs, the essential characteristics of human beings (the ability to speak, think, act, create, and possess emotions) are transferred to other things, enabling them to possess certain human traits. In this way, things can be described concretely and vividly (in imagery), allowing readers to feel intimacy and to be easily moved.

1. Personification of Living Beings

“The Forest’s Poem”

“Good morning, Sun! Good morning, Morning!”
Miss Magpie is the first to open her eyes,
Opening the green shutters,
To the Sun who has just come to work,
To the Morning who has just gotten up,
Calling out again and again.

Topped with dewdrops all over their heads,
Little mushrooms gather from all directions,
Forming into neat little teams,
Letting Mr. Wind be the conductor,
On the playground carpeted with wildflowers
They begin to do calisthenics.

Uncle Woodpecker is the most respected by everyone,
Because he is a warm-hearted good doctor.
Every day he is busy from morning till night;
Before he has even eaten breakfast,
He is invited away to see Grandpa Old Cedar for an illness.
Without bringing a thermometer,
And without a stethoscope,
He carefully examines Old Cedar,
Using his long, sharp, and swift big beak.

Little Brother White Rabbit listens to his mother the most.
Early in the morning he brushes his teeth
And washes his long big ears.
He is a diligent little gardener,
Never lazy, loving his work.
He plants little flowers and little grasses,
Plants a small plot of little soybeans, and also a small plot of little cucumbers.
What makes him happiest
Is watching the seeds he has sown turn into tender sprouts.

Miss Thrush is a little musician,
But she is unwilling to stay at home and play the harmonica.
She fears that the friends living in the forest might feel too lonely,
So she flies east and west to pay visits,
Letting the friends who have worked hard all day sit down and rest,
Letting her sing a few of the most beautiful songs in this world.

The fox and the wolf no longer do those bad things.
They are now affectionate good neighbors,
A pair of diligent good students.
They walk together and go to school together.
Teacher Bee teaches them to sing and teaches them to read;
The forest is their great classroom.

The owl wears a pair of big glasses all year round.
You should know that he is the most learned old doctor of philosophy.
During the day he shuts himself inside the house,
Reading those thick, hardbound volumes one after another.
At night he does not want to sleep at all,
Endlessly telling stories to the moon and the stars,
And when delighted, he laughs in a strange and peculiar voice.

In “The Forest’s Poem,” each stanza contains several characters who appear and perform through personification. Their order is as follows:

In the first stanza: Miss Magpie, the Sun, the Morning, little mushrooms, Mr. Wind.
In the second stanza: the woodpecker, Old Cedar.
In the third stanza: Little Brother White Rabbit.
In the fourth stanza: Miss Thrush.
In the fifth stanza: the fox, the wolf, Teacher Bee.
In the sixth stanza: the owl.

Among them, the Sun, the Morning, and Mr. Wind belong to the category of “personification of non-living things.”

 

2. Personification of Non-Living Things

“The Seven-Colored Rainbow”

Upon receiving King Sun’s order for a grand cleaning,
The little raindrops all climbed aboard the swiftly running dark clouds,
Racing as they left the heavenly palace.

They filled the rice paddies and the little rivers with abundant water;
They bathed the dirty valleys;
Then they went on to wash clean the city that even the street sweepers could never completely finish sweeping,
And also cleansed the sultry sky filled with flying dust.

In order to reward them for being so capable,
King Sun gave them a beautiful long ribbon,
That is the seven-colored rainbow of
Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple
Hanging in the bright sky after the rain.

In this poem, “King Sun,” “the little raindrops,” “dark clouds,” and “valleys” are all examples of personification of non-living things.

3. Personification of Abstract Things or Concepts

“Home”

Leaves are the cradle of little caterpillars.
Flowers are the beds of butterflies.
Every singing bird has a comfortable nest.
Industrious ants and bees all live in beautiful large dormitories.
The home of crabs and little fish is in the blue little river.
The boundless green prairie is the homeland of grasshoppers and dragonflies.

The poor wind has no home,
Running east and west, yet unable to find a place to rest.
The drifting clouds have no home;
When the sky turns overcast, they anxiously shed tears without stop.

Little brother and little sister are the most fortunate!
From the moment they are born, mother and father have already prepared a home for them,
Growing up safely and securely at home.

“Home” is an abstract collective noun. Through his observation of the animals and plants of nature, Yang Huan outlines the various images of “home” in an imagistic manner.

In addition, the integrated use of personification is quite common in Yang Huan’s children’s poetry.

“The Little Paper Boat”

Then quickly fold a little paper boat,
Do not begrudge a single sheet of white craft paper,
And then use your multicolored crayons
To draw a little sailor wearing his white hat crooked.

The little cricket is going to attend a concert,
He must cross the river to sing;
The little ant, busy all day and missing his mother,
Must cross the river to hurry home.
Look, look, they are all waiting so anxiously!

When Mr. Sun bids farewell to the daytime,
When Miss Cloud is kissed until her face turns bashfully red,
When the tadpole children want to hide beneath the riverbed to rest,
Then let your little paper boat set sail!

Let it float past the little bridge,
Let it gently float past the little bridge,
But do not awaken the evening glow sleeping upon the little river.

Row quickly! Row quickly!
Be sure to earnestly remind your little sailor
Not to stop the boat halfway along the journey,
Not to let him go ashore to his little sweetheart
To pick those dandelion flowers blooming golden, golden.
You should know that at this moment,
At that lively concert, the clear and resonant little trumpet has already sounded once.
Even the little ant’s mother is anxiously waiting for him to return for dinner.

When Sister Moon leans over the little river to look at her reflection;
When the stars mischievously poke out their heads;
When the night wind and the little grass whisper to each other;
When the flowers have all fallen asleep, when the insects have all fallen asleep,
The fireflies should also be arriving with their lanterns,
Let them welcome your little paper boat and that loyal little sailor,
Safely curving into that quiet little harbor thickly grown with reeds!

In this poem, Yang Huan interweaves the personification of living beings and non-living things, making each successive scene vivid and lively, brimming with warm and sweet childlike delight.

 

II. Objectification

“To describe a person by comparing the person to a thing, projecting the qualities of external objects onto the person. According to subject matter, it can be divided into: 1. objectifying into living things and 2. objectifying into non-living things. According to length, it can be divided into: 1. objectification throughout the entire piece and 2. objectification within a sentence. In ‘poetry on objects,’ if the perspective of the ‘object’ is adopted and narrated in the first person ‘I,’ ‘objectification’ is mostly employed.”

1. Objectifying into Living Things

“The Little Snail”

I carry my little house as I walk,
I carry my little house as I climb trees,
Slowly, slowly,
Neither hurried nor flustered.

I carry my little house as I travel,
Going everywhere to pay visits,
Visiting the sun that kisses the flowers and the little grasses.
I want to ask him:
Why doesn’t he come
To shine upon
The place where I live,
That kind of damp and dirty awful place?

“The Little Ant”

We are a group of little workers who never loaf,
Unable to carry big brother’s storybook,
Unable to drag away big sister’s colored yarn,
We come to lift the crumbs left over from little sister’s biscuits.

When it rains,
Little mushrooms hold up the most beautiful umbrellas for us;
When we cross the river,
Flower petals rock over the steadiest boat for us.

“The Little Cricket”

Cri-li-li! Cri-li-li!
Mother’s stories are truly pleasant to hear.

Cri-li-li! Cri-li-li!
The doll’s eyes are truly beautiful.

Cri-li-li! Cri-li-li!
Who made your little face and little hands black and dirty?

Cri-li-li! Cri-li-li!
Don’t cry and don’t fuss—sleep for a while,
My song will be sung until broad daylight.

“The Little Spider”

I want to stick fast the annoying sharp mouth of the little mosquito.
I want to stick fast the little wings of the little fly that flits about.
Sister Bee, be careful—
Don’t fly over here to bring me honey!

The wind blows fallen flowers onto my net,
The dewdrops hang pearls upon my net:
It is beautiful,
It is my home.

These four children’s poems, themed around insects, all adopt the first-person “I” narrative perspective to speak. This type of object-poem generally employs objectification, imagining oneself as a specific living creature in order to express the characteristics of the object, while at the same time entrusting the author’s thoughts and feelings within it.

2. Objectifying into Non-Living Things

“The Song of Soap”

Little friends, you must all recognize me,
Saying that I am a good bar of soap.
I am not like those fragranced soaps dressed in gaudy colors,
Displayed in the noble shop windows of big department stores.
From the moment I was born,
I was packed by the workers into a rough wooden crate.

But I am very happy,
And I am also very proud.
I am willing to help your mothers laboriously wash the clothes,
And I am even more willing to follow you happily in blowing bubbles.
Come, let us become good friends together!
Let me wash clean your little hands that are black and dirty every day,
And then gladly watch you, wearing clothes washed clean and beautiful,
Go off to school!

In this poem, the poet imagines himself as a bar of soap, speaking from the soap’s perspective about how, although of humble origin, it is quite useful. In contrast to the poet’s own birth into a poor family, yet possessing a spirit of striving upward, this poem to some extent carries the intention of self-portrayal.

 

III. One Object Personifying Another Object

“One object personifying another object” refers to comparing this object to another object, whereby this object is endowed with the “characteristics” or “attributes” of that other object. The scholar Huang Li-zhen classifies “one object personifying another object” under “objectification.” The author believes that although in “objectification” the imitated entity (the object of personification) is indeed an “object,” the subject (the subject of personification) is “human,” which is different from “one object personifying another object,” where both the imitated entity and the principal role are “objects.”

“Summer Night”

The butterflies and bees have returned carrying the nectar of flowers;
The flocks of sheep and the herds of cattle have bid farewell to the fields and gone home;
The fiery red sun has also rolled its wheel of fire home;
When the street lamps light up and bid the village good night,
The summer night gently arrives.

It gently climbs down from the hillside.
It comes! It comes!
It gently climbs down from the tops of the coconut trees.
It scatters pearls all over the sky and one great and bright silver coin.
…

In this poem, the fiery red sun is personified as a wheel of fire; the stars are personified as pearls filling the sky; the moon is personified as one great and bright silver coin. The imagery thus becomes even more vivid and lively. This poem was once included in elementary school textbooks. The lively and animated scenes in its lines provide schoolchildren with a rich imaginative space and constitute an excellent aesthetic teaching material.

“Keys”

I have a ring of keys.
The clumsy and short ones are like idiots and dwarfs;
The delicate and exquisite ones are as beautiful and graceful as princesses.

When I am irritated,
They insist on quarreling loudly,
Like a pair of cold and heartless shackles;
When I am quiet,
They follow by whispering softly,
Making me recall
The neck bells of cattle and sheep ringing in the ripe autumn days.

“The clumsy and short keys are like idiots and dwarfs; the delicate and exquisite keys are as beautiful and graceful as princesses.” These two lines are both examples of “one object personifying another object.” Through this transference between objects, the image of the keys becomes concrete and vivid. Readers may wish to appreciate it through a sequence of continuous images, in order to experience the author’s aesthetic perception of the keys.

“The Fan”

The poet says: The wind is flowing water rolling in the River of Heaven;
I think: Then this fan should be a waterwheel.
In these days of flowing water,
In these days of bitter drought,
It works busily,
Guiding that surging stream of water toward me…

Making my thoughts tranquil and beautiful,
Like lovers strolling along a tree-lined path on a moonlit night;
Allowing my poetic heart to rest comfortably,
Like an infant sleeping soundly in the many-green kingdom of banana leaves.

To personify the fan as a waterwheel is indeed a splendid imagination. Through the transference of imagery, the fan and the waterwheel merge into one. This imaginative linkage arises from their similar function—guiding—and belongs to “associative resemblance.” In the 1940s, when electric fans were not yet widespread, to have a hand fan to stir the air and relieve bodily heat was, in the author’s view, already a wonderful enjoyment of life.

“Eyes”

The little black cat has two big yellow eyes.
When walking on a night without a moon,
Those two big eyes are its lamps.

The little sparrow’s eyes are the most nimble.
Cheerfully it flies up,
Seeking out lonely children to sing the happiest songs for them to hear.

The little mouse’s eyes open only at night.
It does not dare to come out to bask in the sun and take a walk.
It must forever guard a little earthen hole that is black and damp.

Mother’s eyes are as warm and as bright as the sun.
She looks at you with a smile; she blesses you forever,
Because you are her most beloved treasure.

Your eyes are windows.
They must open toward the bright, good sun!
They must open toward the blue sky!
They must open toward the road you are to walk, and the very best one at that!
Do not, the moment you see your books, lazily cry out, “Oh! My head aches!”
And then shut them tightly, like a closed clam shell.

In this poem, “Eyes,” the cat’s eyes are successively personified as “lamps,” the mother’s eyes are personified as “the sun,” and your eyes are personified as windows. Although “metaphor” is used on the literal level, each instance immediately extends the characteristics of the metaphorical object. Therefore, from a semantic perspective, it is closer to “personification.”