Answer: The time traveller has been driven insane by visiting other times
The Time Traveller has returned to his own time, but can barely put a sentence together. It seems that he is struggling with his words and his thoughts and cannot tell if all of his adventures really happened or if he might have just imagined them. His travel is confirmed though, when they walk through the house and find the actual time machine.
Explanation:
The personification is: “deathly oppressive silence hangs over the house and clings to me as if it were going to drag me into the deepest regions of the underworld”
The extended metaphor is the line from “I wonder from room to room” to “a voice within me cries”, so the last 7 lines (sorry I didn’t feel like writing the quote out).
Anne is forced to stay in the house/attic every day to avoid being discovered. The attic itself is cramped and stuffy, especially with the 8 other people living there. She feels like a caged animal (a caged songbird in this case) because she is never allowed into the outside world.
