Read the extract below and answer the question:

......O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first,

Me thoughtshe purged the air of pestilence;

That instant was, I turned into a hert,

And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds,

E'er since pursue me.

(Act 1, Scene 1)

The figure of speech used in the underlined expression is

• A. personification
• B. paradox
• C. metaphor
• D. irony