Question

Read the excerpt below and answer the question. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying. (Herrick, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”; lines 1-4) The use of flower that smiles in the poem is best described as an example of
1. Carpe Diem
2. theme
3. personification
4. allusion

Answer 1

It is an example of 3. personification.
Personification is a figure of speech where non-human entities are given human abilities or characteristics. So, flowers usually cannot smile (it is something that humans/animals can do), which is why it is a personification. Carpe Diem is the theme of this poem, but not the correct answer here.

Answer 2

It is an example of personification