As J. and George dream about an idealized version of their trip, Jerome uses personification to describe the sounds of the river as J. imagines it lapping around the boat. In his imagination, the Thames seems almost alive:
The river, playing around the boat, prattles old tales and secrets, sings low the child’s song that it has sung for so many years … and we fall asleep beneath the great, still stars, and dream the world is young again.
Jerome personifies the Thames so much that it seems like a character in this novel. The idea that the river will be friendly to them appears in a lot of J.'s fantasies about his upcoming holiday. It seems pleased to see the “three men” in this quotation, as Jerome describes how it "prattles" to the men, sharing “old tales and secrets.” This personification gives the river a voice and a sense of agency, making it an active participant in the journey. The use of the word "prattles" suggests a gentle, lighthearted chatter on non-serious subjects. It’s a soothing kind of speech, as is the “child’s song” that the river sings. J. and George imagine that it will rock them to sleep gently as soon as they embark.
This sound—a "child’s song" sung by the water—also evokes a sense of innocence and timelessness. J. has very little idea what the trip will actually be like, so he and George make lots of romantic guesses. They certainly don't believe it will be hard work, as this anecdote shows. As they plan, they talk about the "great, still stars" and the dream of a world that is "young again," which also makes the river seem magical and benevolent. Although Harris is skeptical, this vision convinces J. and George to persuade him to go river-boating.
As they pass through Kingston, J. uses both personification and simile to describe the vibrant atmosphere of spring on a particularly beautiful day:
It was a glorious morning, late spring or early summer, as you care to take it, when the dainty sheen of grass and leaf is blushing to a deeper green; and the year seems like a fair young maid, trembling with strange, wakening pulses on the brink of womanhood.
J. is thoroughly enjoying the beautiful weather, using a simile to liken the change from spring to summer to a young woman coming into maturity. The personification of the year as a "fair young maid" imbues the season with human-like qualities, emphasizing its energy and freshness. Through this personification, J. suggests that the spring day in Kingston is alive and filled with potential. It’s brimming with life, like a young woman on the verge of adulthood. The simile’s use of the word "trembling" conveys a sense of anticipation and excitement, as if both the young woman and the year were on the cusp of bursting and unfolding. All of the imagery echoes this; the green grass "blushes," and and the grass is coated with a "dainty sheen." This combination of personification and simile is intense and appealing, making Kingston itself seem like a very attractive prospect.
In this somber passage from Three Men in a Boat, the author uses personification, metaphor, and simile to describe the effect of the absence of sunlight on the English landscape:
Sunlight is the life-blood of Nature. Mother Earth looks at us with such dull, soulless eyes, when the sunlight has died away from out of her. It makes us sad to be with her then; she does not seem to know us or to care for us. She is as a widow who has lost the husband she loved, and her children touch her hand, and look up into her eyes, but gain no smile from her.
J., in his melancholy musing, portrays Nature as a grieving mother. He personifies this "Mother" as having "dull, soulless eyes" in the absence of sunlight. Depicting the landscape around him as having human-like characteristics makes its "sadness" seem clearer to the reader. This human-like characterization of Nature is amplified by the simile Jerome uses. He has the reader picture her "as a widow who has lost the husband she loved." This appeals to readers' sense of empathy, especially when it's coupled with the other tragic language included here. Mother Nature isn't just grieving. She's in such deep mourning that even her "children" can't get her to "smile."
The metaphor of sunlight as the "life-blood of Nature" further emphasizes the vital role of sunlight in sustaining the natural world. The comparison of Nature without sunlight to a widow deep in grief also strengthens this idea. Without sunlight, all the living things on earth die and fade away. When the world is lightless, J. feels horribly sad, as if Mother Nature "no longer cares" for the humans who live in the world.
The Thames is in every chapter of this book, and is arguably itself an important character. Here, Jerome uses personification and auditory imagery to describe the sounds the river makes, making it seem like a benevolent presence:
[The river] making sweet each lane and meadow, lying tangled in the rushes, peeping, laughing, from each inlet, gleaming gay on many a far sail, making soft the air with glory – is a golden fairy stream.
This is an idyllic, romantic depiction of the Thames. Jerome describes the river as a "golden fairy stream," implying that it possesses an almost magical beauty and value. This imagery plays into the folkloric, mystical descriptions of England’s history that J. provides in other parts of the book. The Thames is more than just a lovely body of water; it has widespread effects on the landscape around it, “making sweet each lane and meadow.”
The author also attributes human-like qualities to the river here, describing it as "peeping" and "laughing." This language mimics the sounds that birds and humans make. It’s not just the living beings who play and live on the river who make these pleasant noises, but the river itself. The repetition of this language from earlier in the novel similarly reinforces the idea of the river as a living being with its own agency. It’s an active participant in the journey J. and his friends take, rather than just a means of conveyance.
