How The Elements Of Poetry Indicate Tone

Tone can be defined as the attitude that a poem's speaker takes toward the poem's subject (Marchbank). Interpreting the tone of a poem can be very difficult, because one must weigh all the elements of poetry to read its tone. The tone of a poem shapes the ideas the poem is communicating, so misreading the tone is misreading the entire poem. In the poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night," by Dylan Thomas, diction and form serve to create the tone of the poem. In William Wordsworth's poem, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," imagery aids in determining the tone of the poem. Rhyme scheme and rhythm are used to shape the tone in John Donne's poem, "The Flea."

The influence of diction and form on the overall tone of a poem is illustrated in Thomas's poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night." Diction refers to the particular choices of words. The use of specific words in a poem serves to create a tone. Thomas wrote this poem to his dying father to persuade his father to fight death. In the poem, Thomas uses strong, powerful words, such as "burn" and "rage." These words suggest an urgency in his plea. He begins the four middle stanzas with a description of a certain type of person. He uses "wise men," "good men," "wild men," and "grave men" (Thomas 927), to explain to his father different reasons for fighting for his life. Each of the four stanzas are used to make a different point, which shows that Thomas is trying to take many different approaches to inspiring his father. In the last stanza of the poem, the tone changes dramatically. Thomas begins to beg his father, saying "Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray" (Thomas 927). The way he adds, "I pray," reveals that his tone is becoming more desperate. He is now begging his father to shout at him and take his anger out on him, rather than give in to death. This poem also follows the strict form of a villanelle. A villanelle consists of six rhymed stanzas in which two lines are repeated in a prescribed pattern (Marchbank). In this poem, the first and third lines of the poem, "Do not go gentle into that good night" (Thomas 927), and "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (Thomas 927), are used alternately to close each of the following stanzas. The repetition of these two lines emphasizes his point. The same two lines are also used to end the poem on a compelling and gripping note. Interpreting the diction and the form of the poem reveals that the poem's tone begins with an urgent, crucial feel, progresses to explanatory, and then changes to pleading.

Wordsworth uses imagery in his poem, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," to create a detailed picture in the mind, enhancing the tone of the poem. Although he uses the words "lonely" and "solitude" (Wordsworth 727) in the poem, the speaker's tone is not depressing at all. This is because the imagery that Wordsworth uses in the poem creates positive feelings, such as peace and joy. In the first line of the poem, "I wandered lonely as a cloud" (Wordsworth 727), the image of a cloud brings to mind a carefree sort of wandering. A cloud is not bound by any obstacle, but can go wherever the whim of the wind takes it. The speaker of the poem then sees "a crowd, / A host, of golden daffodils" (Wordsworth 727), which creates an image of daffodils chattering amongst one another. The daffodils are then "Fluttering and dancing in the breeze" (Wordsworth 727), and "Tossing their heads in sprightly dance" (Wordsworth 727). Comparing their movement to a dance gives the poem a cheery and energetic feel. In the poem, the beauty of nature comforts the speaker when he is lonely. The reader is able to relate to the speaker's feeling of comfort because Wordsworth depicts nature so brilliantly and gives the feeling of being one with nature. This idea of being one with nature does, in fact, evoke feelings of comfort and fulfillment. Wordsworth's use of visual imagery is instrumental in reading the tone of the poem.

Donne uses sound devices, such as rhyme and rhythm, to shaping the tone of his argumentative poem, "The Flea." The speaker of this poem is attempting to seduce his lover by comparing the consequences of their lovemaking with those of an insignificant fleabite. His tone is confident and assertive, yet playful and light-hearted. The poem contains nine-line stanzas, identical in form. Each stanza begins with three rhyming couplets, followed by a triplet containing