Kerry Says - Let's Include Pathetic Fallacy

Pathetic Fallacy

n.

The ascribing of human traits or feelings to inanimate nature for eloquent effect, especially feelings in sympathy with those expressed or experienced by the writer, as a "cruel wind," a "pitiless storm," or the lines from Shelley's Adonais: 

Pale Ocean in unquiet slumber lay, 
And the Wild Winds flew round, sobbing in their dismay...

The phrase Pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attributing of human emotion and conduct to all aspects within nature. It is a kind of personification that is found in poetic writing when, for example, clouds seem sullen, when leaves dance, when dogs laugh, or when rocks seem indifferent. 

The British cultural critic, John Ruskin, coined the term in his book, Modern Painters (1843–60), to attack the sentimentality that was common to the poetry of the late 18th century, and which use continued among his contemporaries. That fashion was waning just as John Ruskin addressed the matter; nonetheless, as a critic, Ruskin proved influential, and is credited with having helped to refine poetic expression.

The meaning of the term has changed significantly from the idea Ruskin had in mind.  His original definition is “emotional falseness” when influenced by violent or heightened passion. For example, when a person is unhinged by grief, the clouds might seem darker than they are, or perhaps mournful or perhaps even uncaring. 

photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photopin cc

In his essay, Ruskin demonstrates his original meaning by offering lines of a poem:

They rowed her in across the rolling foam— 
The cruel, crawling foam… 

Ruskin then points out that "the foam is not cruel, neither does it crawl. The state of mind which attributes to it these characters of a living creature is one in which the reason is unhinged by grief"—yet, Ruskin did not disapprove of this use of the pathetic fallacy: "Now, so long as we see that the feeling is true, we pardon, or are even pleased by, the confessed fallacy of sight, which it induces: we are pleased, for instance, with those lines ... above quoted, not because they fallaciously describe foam, but because they faithfully describe sorrow."


In some classical poetic forms such as the pastoral elegy, the pathetic fallacy is actually a required convention. In Milton’s “On The Morning of Christ’s Nativity,” all aspects of nature react affectively to the event of Christ’s birth.

The Stars with deep amaze 
Stand fixt in steadfast gaze… 

Ruskin considered the excessive use of the fallacy the mark of an inferior poet. Later poets, however—especially the Imagists of the early 20th century, as well as T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound—used the pathetic fallacy freely and effectively.

The Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh

The device has also been employed in the visual arts, by many painters from van Gogh to Munch, and it has an undeniable effect on mood. 

The Scream, Edvard Munch

Our Challenge is to include pathetic fallacy in our poetry today. It is up to the individual as to how prominent a feature of the poem it will be. To avoid the pitfall of straightforward personification, remember to link the natural phenomenon to the feeling, tone or mood of the character, speaker or setting of your poem.

Sources: Britannica.com
               Wikipedia