ExampleLexical issueAttribution issue
Circumstances spoke“Spoke” can shift toward “indicated”Circumstances treated as a speaker
Spring grew the herbs“Grow” may retain its familiar senseCausing growth assigned to a season
In the first case a change in the sense of speaking can be prominent. In the second, assigning the causal action to the season can be the main difficulty. Not every unusual predication requires an alteration in the lexical sense of its verb.
The examples may share a vivid personifying effect without requiring identical accounts of their semantic transfer.