The personification of May, allusions to the mischief of "Puck and his train of midgets", metaphors comparing the seasons to specific emotions, and irony are used throughout O. Henry's, "The Marry Month of May, to not only build to and enhance the surprise ending of the story, but also further impact upon the reader the theme of the piece: that the effects of the weather upon one's emotions can pervade all thought and cause one to succumb completely to the feelings it provokes. Such literary devices litter the story until May leaps from the pages in her mischievous glory, imposing upon any within her grasp an unthinking infatuation with the most unlikely of sweethearts. Even the deliberate exchange of homonyms in the title-"marry" instead of "merry"-invokes the romantic connotations often associated with May's bright, spring weather. But the vivid descriptions by way of metaphors and allusions create such an atmosphere of warmth of happiness that they only serve to draw the reader further into the story and exemplify the theme.
             The most pervading literary device employed by O. Henry throughout this work is his personification of May as a marauder whose warmth and beauty will veil all thought and reason from a person and leave him to the will of the emotions her presence produces. Mr. Coulson, an elderly, invalid gentleman who was well-off but lonely in his age, proves especially prone to "the deadly work of the implacable, false enchantress May." The warmth of the season is found in his poetic words to his housekeeper, Mrs. Widdup: "'In the spring...a man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.'"
             Similarly, the cold and thoughts of winter spawn bitterness and quick anger. Miss Constantia Coulson, Mr. Coulson's "frigid" daughter, brings forth the very cold with which she is described, to battle the love that May's warmth c...