Final answer:
The personification in the poem emphasizes the apple's tempting nature by giving it human-like qualities, which contributes to the feeling of temptation felt by the speaker.
Step-by-step explanation:
The passage contains an example of figurative language where the apple is described as if it can sing and shine, which is a use of personification. Personification is a figure of speech where human qualities are given to objects, animals, or ideas. In this poem, the golden apple is personified to show its tempting nature to the speaker. It 'sings a sweet song' and its 'glossy peel shines like the sun,' which are not literal actions an apple can perform. This figurative language helps create a vivid image in the reader's mind and emphasizes how tempting the apple is to the speaker.
Thus, the best answer to how the italicized example of figurative language contributes to the meaning of the poem is: A. The personification establishes that the speaker finds the apple tempting. The apple does not have desires or intentions, so the idea that it actively does not want to be eaten or wants to be eaten is not directly supported by the text. The emphasis is on the speaker's temptation, not the apple's agency.