Poetry Questions on Tone

Poetry

The theme of the poem "Letter From a Contract Worker" is the expression of love, which the speaker achieves eloquently within the poem but cannot do in a letter since he cannot write and his beloved...

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Poetry

The tone of M. Mtshali's "An Abandoned Bundle" is initially dismal and helpless, marked by vivid, haunting imagery of squalor and violence. However, the tone shifts towards the end, becoming filled...

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Poetry

Johnson Agard's poem "The Clown's Wife" employs various poetic devices, including imagery and metaphor, to convey its themes. The rhyme scheme is irregular, reflecting the chaotic life of a clown....

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Poetry

In "This is the Dark Time, My Love," Martin Carter explores themes of oppression and resistance. The poem reflects on a period of political turmoil, highlighting the struggles and suffering of the...

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Poetry

"An Ordinary Day" by Norman MacCaig explores the beauty and significance found in everyday experiences. The poem contrasts mundane events with profound reflections, highlighting the...

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Poetry

The tone of David Diop's poem "Africa" is multifaceted, encompassing three distinct emotions. Initially, the tone is triumphal, celebrating Africa's proud heritage and strength. This shifts to a...

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Poetry

Arundhati Subramaniam's poem "To the Welsh Critic Who Doesn't Find Me Identifiably Indian" sarcastically addresses a critic's attempt to define her cultural identity. The speaker confronts the...

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Poetry

Alan Brownjohn's "The Rabbit" explores themes of ecological disaster and the consequences of technological advancement. The poem uses repetition and a dark tone to highlight the near-extinction of a...

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Poetry

The tone of "The Sea" by James Reeves shifts through the poem's stanzas. Initially, it is ominous and dangerous, likening the sea to a hungry, howling dog. This menacing tone intensifies in the...

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Poetry

Roger McGough's poem "My Busconductor" offers a vivid portrayal of a bus conductor's life. The poem highlights the mundane and often overlooked aspects of his daily routine, signaling a deeper...

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Poetry

The poem "Green Beret" by Ho Thien explores a Vietnamese village boy's encounter with American troops during the Vietnam War, highlighting cultural clashes and moral ambiguity. The troops threaten...

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Poetry

Sujata Bhatt's poem "What Happened to the Elephant" explores cultural aspects of reincarnation through a child's innocent questioning, avoiding overt religious references. The poem raises ethical and...

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Poetry

There are many places where the language shifts in Gabriel Spera's poem "My Ex-Husband," but the most notable shift happens in the line "Who'd lower herself to put up with shit / Like that?" In this...

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Poetry

Jan Kemp's "Elephant Riding" explores themes of human-animal connection and admiration through a vivid depiction of her experience in New Delhi. The poem's tone reflects surprise and delight,...

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Poetry

To critically appreciate "When I'm An Old Lady" by Joanne Bailey Baxter, consider its humorous portrayal of a mother’s playful anticipation of "payback" for the trials of parenting. The poem uses...

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Poetry

Shakespeare's sonnets 18 and 116 differ from Poe's "The Raven" in several ways. The sonnets use iambic pentameter and follow the English sonnet form, while "The Raven" employs trochaic octameter and...

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Poetry

In "Hyena" by Edwin Morgan, the poem uses irony to depict the hyena as a seemingly fearsome predator boasting about its prowess. The hyena claims to be a "good match for a dead lion," highlighting...

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Poetry

In Gareth Owen's "Dear Mr. Examiner," the significance of pausing is reflected through the use of enjambment, which creates a tone of frustration and mirrors the speaker's sense of defeat. The lack...

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Poetry

Edwin Brock creates an ironic tone in "Five Ways to Kill a Man" with his simple, deadpan descriptions of scenes from history and myth, beginning with the crucifixion of Christ. The irony is...

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Poetry

The ballad form of "Get Up and Bar the Door" influences its tone by using a rhythmic, narrative structure that emphasizes humor and the "battle of the sexes." The simple quatrain stanzas and iambic...

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Poetry

The speaker is a 14-year-old Japanese American girl, Ozawa, addressing relocation officials due to Executive Order 9066. The audience includes these officials and, broadly, all Americans harboring...

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Poetry

The Graveyard School of Poetry is characterized by a somber and reflective tone, often focusing on themes of mortality, death, and the afterlife. This movement, prominent in the 18th century,...

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Poetry

The overall tone of Janice Townley Moore's poem "To a Wasp" is foreboding and cynical, achieved through a sense of inevitability and pity. The poem warns of unavoidable death, using the imagery of a...

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Poetry

The poem "The Uncles" uses prose-like language, rich in mechanical engineering jargon, to eulogize the speaker's uncles, highlighting their expertise and dedication. Its structure mimics the...

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Poetry

"A Gunner's Day" by Anonymous is about a soldier's daily life during war. The poem is written in the form of a list, which shows the monotonous and repetitive nature of his job. The tone of the poem...

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Poetry

In "November Sun," the poet uses personification to create a tone of desolation, noting particularly the way the November sun abandons humanity and causes Canada to be pulled down into a dreary...

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Poetry

In "Dynamic Positioning," Juliana Spahr describes an explosion on an oil rig, varying her tone from matter-of-fact explanation to chaos and disjunction and finally to a calm litany of the dead and...

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Poetry

Bart Edelman uses diction and tone in "Chemistry Experiment" to create a conversational and reflective narrative. The straightforward, factual diction conveys a clinical tone during the experiment,...

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Poetry

The tone of Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm's poem "To you who would wage war against me" begins with accusation, tension, and conflict, characterized by defiance and violence. This is expressed through free...

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Poetry

The theme of Robert Laurence Binyon's poem "The Little Dancers" is the resilience of human spirit and the ability to find joy despite difficult circumstances. The poem depicts two children dancing in...

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Poetry

A poem's appearance significantly influences its tone and pacing by dictating line breaks, word emphasis, and overall structure. Micro elements like line endings can emphasize certain words, while...

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Poetry

Nanao Sakaki's poems "Let's Eat the Stars" and "Forevergreen" critique humanity's exploitative attitude toward nature. "Let's Eat the Stars" uses a sardonic tone to highlight how society...

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Poetry

Identifying the speaker and occasion of a poem can enhance its dramatic quality by providing context and emotional depth, akin to a stage performance. For example, in "Elegy in a Country Churchyard,"...

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Poetry

Sophie Hannah's "Postcard From a Travel Snob" uses literary devices such as irony, imagery, and tone to critique a self-proclaimed superior traveler. The poem's irony emerges from the speaker's...

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Poetry

"Not Waving but Drowning" by Stevie Smith explores the contrast between tone and content, as well as the relationship between the poet and the speaker. The poem's casual tone contrasts sharply with...

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Poetry

"To Sylvia" and "We Are Seven" both explore themes of childhood and premature death, but with contrasting tones and structures. Leopardi's "To Sylvia" is a melancholic elegy in six-line stanzas,...

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Poetry

Vernon Scannell conveys his feelings about the nettle incident by using war imagery to personify the nettles as aggressive soldiers, contrasting them with the vulnerable boy. The poem uses harsh...

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Poetry

Hecht's "The Dover Bitch" contrasts sharply with Arnold's "Dover Beach" through its tone and imagery. Arnold's poem is serious, reflecting on the loss of faith and seeking comfort in love amidst a...

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