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Pathos
Definition of Personification
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the... read full definition
New Celebration (Lines 1640–1912)
Explanation and Analysis—Pride:
After Beowulf slays Grendel’s mother, Hrothgar showers the warrior with gifts and praise. However, he also offers Beowulf some advice, anticipating that Beowulf might become a King someday. In his speech, Hrothgar personifies the notion of “pride,” imagining it as an escaped prisoner. Describing a hypothetical man who has good fortune but succumbs to pride, Hrothgar states:
All the world
wends at his will, no worse he knoweth,
till all within him obstinate pride
waxes and wakes while the warden slumbers,
the spirit's sentry; sleep is too fast
which masters his might, and the murderer nears,
stealthily shooting the shafts from his bow!
Under harness his heart then is hit indeed
by sharpest shafts; and no shelter avails
from foul behest of the hellish fiend.
Him seems too little what long he possessed.
Greedy and grim, no golden rings
he gives for his pride; the promised future
forgets he and spurns, with all God has sent him.
Hrothgar imagines a man who lives a good and blessed life, but falls victim to his own pride. Here, pride is imagined as a prisoner who lives inside the man, guarded in his cell by a “warden.” When the man becomes complacent, “the warden slumbers,” allowing pride to escape. After gaining freedom, pride, a “murderer,” shoots his arrows at the man’s heart, hitting him. Thereafter, the man is no longer satisfied with what he has and begins to desire more than what “God has sent him.” Here, the abstract notion of pride is described in distinctly human terms. Through this personification, Hrothgar warns Beowulf to stay vigilant and keep his own pride in check.
Related Themes:
