''The fire gnawed ceaselessly at the bark of the tree'' illustrates

The phrase "The fire gnawed ceaselessly at the bark of the tree" is an example of personification, which is a figure of speech where inanimate objects or animals are given human characteristics. In this example, the fire is given the human characteristic of being able to "gnaw" on the bark of the tree, which is not possible for fire as it does not have a physical mouth or teeth to chew. Therefore, this is a personification because it attributes a human quality (gnawing) to a non-human entity (fire).