Question

What type of figurative language is used in these lines from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge?

The Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.

simile
alliteration
metaphor
personification

Answer 1

personification because it says that the sun went down into the sea and the sun cannot go down into the sea

Answer 2

The correct answer is: personification.

The Sun is a gigantic sphere of burning gasses that does not move on its own, its movements is caused by the gravitational influence of the galaxy’s supermassive black hole. Because it does not have any movement or volition of its own, Coleridge’s verses are a clear example of personification, since it is attributing human characteristics to a force of nature which has none.