tone and mood

The tone and mood work hand in hand, and create an environment for the reader. The reader often has a strong connection to the poem, and the mood makes that connection even stronger. A reader wants to know how to feel when reading. Poems like "Out Out," by Robert Frost show offer the reader this connection through its strong language like "Buzz saw snarled and rattled." The reader is thrust into a mood of heightened awareness and a feeling of something not being right. As the poem continues, the mood will waver slightly with softer words, but eventually hits a hard, and somewhat terrifying mood when the boy dies, and everything is back to normal. The mood of the poem is strikingly off-setting that the reader will feel deeply throughout. The tone and mood are the central feeling of a poem or literary work. This feeling is what the reader will attach themselves with as they read.

diction

As we have discussed in class, diction drives everything. The power triangle that we saw in class is the perfect example. The language that the authors use is all that they have. The images that they conjure up are based upon words, not pictures. Their diction must be precise and powerful to be most affective. Like in PandP, the first line of the whole novel immediately sets the tone for the rest of the it. In poems is where we se this most prevalent. The poets have only a few words to tell an enormous story. Their diction must be the best in can possibly be, thus the importance of diction.

imagery or figurative language

Many poets use powerful and vivid imagery and figurative language to display a deeper meaning than just the printed word. Images like rose-buds from To his Virgins and hoisted on their shoulders from To an Athlete Dying young. The authors don't literally mean rose-buds or an athlete on shoulders. They are expressing the images and feelings associated with these metaphors. Figurative language can range in meaning like these two do from virginity and youth to power and immortality. Poetic authors will use figurative language and imagery to portray a meaning far deeper than what is simply presented on paper.

sounds of poetry

In poetry, the sounds the reader hears are not only dominant, they are essential. Poetry is very different from novelistic writing, and thus employs a different kind of emotional attachment for the reader. It is based upon powerful emotion that is triggered by the sounds and flow of the poem. Out Out by Robert Frost displayed this perfectly with lines like "The buzz-saw snarled."The reader is almost bombarded with different sounds that evoke an almost heightened awareness in the reader of their surroundings, and what is happening in the poem. This is the fundamental purpose of the sounds, to set a certain feel for the reader.