Blog #8: Tone/ Mood

         The tone and mood espoused by the author is what gets the reader in the mindset of the piece of text. If an author is talking about the serenity of the ocean, it would not make sense for him and her to use a harsh or coarse tone. In “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath, there are definite tonal shifts in her speaking which indicates the shift in emotion throughout her poem. For instance, in the stanza “I have always been scared of you,/ With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygook/….Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You-/ Not God but a swastika” (lines 42-46). There is an evident tonal shift from the first line of the stanza to the first line of the following stanza. Plath starts off more fearful and sad in the first line and then she shifts to a more aggressive and angry tone. The tone of the author or poet indicates to the reader how he or she should be feeling when reading their piece. Successful writers are able to create a mood for their writing that can be observed from only understanding parts of the writing.

Blog #7: Diction

Diction is simply the words used by a poet. Diction is arguably the most important aspect of a poem, novel, or play, for the main reason that without diction there are no words to express content. Specific diction expresses the tone of the piece of text and also creates certain sounds to set the mood. In “Out, Out-“  by  Robert Frost, the poet makes extended use of onomatopoeia , sibilance, and alliteration, to create a sinister and powerful mood. His diction is mainly based on the sounds of the words he uses.  The poem starts off with “The buzz-saw snarled.” The poem starts off with all of the language mentioned before. The initial diction of the poem creates the sounds of the factory, setting the reader in the setting and mindset of the poem.  Poets can also use diction when it comes to length of words. In “To His Coy Mistress” the poet uses long and prolonged words at the start of the poem because he talks about unconditional time: a time that is endless and uninterrupted. As the conditions in the poem switch, and a condition is put on time, the diction changes in that its speed is no longer prolonged. Diction creates a certain flow for the piece of text.

Blog #6: Figurative Language

                Figurative language that it’s meaning is not the literal meaning of what is written. Figurative language usually has a deeper meaning on another level, usually a metaphorical level. Lines that use figurative language, specifically metaphors and similes, if taken literally can make little to no sense.  In Billy Collins’ poem “Introduction of Poetry,” figurative language is used, specifically smiles, to compare the process of analyzing a poem to common ideas. For instance, Collins states “I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide.” The word like immediately implies that the line is a simile and reading poetry is compared to holding a slide up to the light.  The line is not literally saying to hold the poem up to the light, but rather take the same approach mentally to analyzing it. In “Traveling through the Dark” the poet makes constant use of imagery as a form of figurative language to appeal to some of the five senses.  By utilizing imagery, the poet invokes emotion in the reader, making the reader emotionally attached to the dead deer. Figurative language is a powerful device in poetry because it causes people to think beyond what is literally given to them on the page. It forces the reader to take their outside knowledge and apply to what is in front of them.

Blog #5: Poetry Sounds

In “Coy Mistress” and “As I Walked out One Evening”, the structures are very reflective of the theme and the poets’ perceptions of love in relation to time. “As I walked out one Evening” has a very “sing-song” rhythm. Auden’s upbeat structure espouses his acceptance of time and the acceptance of loving with a “crooked heart.” Unlike Marvel who prolongs his poem as he hopes to prolong time, Auden’s view of time and love is more light-hearted.  In contrast, in “To His Coy Mistress,” the juxtaposition between slow and fast sentence structure outlines the overall concept of the poem that time is not endless and we must seize the day. Marvell purposefully structures his sentences in a way to slow down the reader as they are reading the poem. The slowness of the line “And the last age should show your heart” (Marvell 18) contrasts with the speed of the line “And tear our pleasures with rough strife” (43).  The lines are juxtaposed in order to express the theme of time and its affect on love. Marvell realizes that time cannot slow down or stop, therefore puts a condition on love. Even without understanding the words of the poems, the reader can get the gist of the theme of time in both poems through the particular poem rhythm and sound.