Question

Which of these excerpts from the poems you read is an example of personification? A. so much depends / upon / a red wheel / barrow (Williams, "The Red Wheelbarrow") B. He was speckled with barnacles, / fine rosettes of lime (Bishop, "The Fish") C. The work of hunters is another thing: / I have come after them and made repair (Frost, "Mending Wall") D. I placed a jar in Tennessee, / . . . It made the slovenly wilderness / Surround that hill (Stevens, "The Anecdote of the Jar")

Answer 1

The correct answer is D, specifically the part which reads "It made the slovenly wilderness." Personification is the attribution of human characteristics to something that is non-human. The  word slovenly is defined as something that is messy, dirty, or careless and is usually used in reference to a person or their appearance. In this case, the author is referring to the wilderness as having the human-like quality of being slovenly.