Apostrophe (meaning "turning away") is similar to personification because it attributes life to lifeless things; but it goes one step further by addressing—directly and passionately—the absent as if present, the dead as if alive. Many poets use Apostrophe in poetry because of its potent demand upon the imagination. It is also quite common in prose. Apostrophe is often combined with metaphor and personification.

EX.—
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky."

EX.—
"Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own."
(Lorenz Hart, "Blue Moon")

EX.—
"Science! True daughter of Old Time thou art!"
(Edgar Allan Poe, "To Science")

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