Personification In The Poem 'Blackberry Eating' By Garry Kinnell

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In the poem “Blackberry Eating,” Garry Kinnell uses personification to give blackberries and words human characteristics, and he also uses words that compare blackberries, and consequently, words, to “black art” magicians. The personification in the poem is evident in Kinnell’s decision to use the pronouns they and them. He made me feel as though the blackberries have a choice in what they do, in their “black art of blackberry making.” The personification is extended as he makes the blackberries appear to be guests who barge in, inviting themselves into his mouth. He writes:
“…and as I stand among them lifting the stalks to my mouth, the ripest berries fall almost unbidden to my tongue,…” (6-8)
In these lines, and in the lines

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