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Tone of the two poems
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The tone of “I am” by John Clare
Poetry has long been used as a tool for communicating emotions and feelings to the audience by using sensual language. John Clare is one of the poets who wrote poetry in a manner that directly conveys the reader the emotional side of the poet. In the poem “I am” used very appealing language and announces for the readers that he has forgotten and abandoned the point where he used to feel , he must realize his presence and forget the rest of the world. The tone of the first stanza is pitiful and this is the beauty of a great poet that in the opening lines he has made his readers aware of his self-pity attitude. The first stanza teeters on the edge of self-pity as he claims in the poem "I am" no one else cares about me and no one even wants to know who I am. Poet is filled with sorrow and has given a self-sufficient statement which could be seen by the two main words being used throughout the poem (I and am). In a very pessimistic way, he describes his friends who never cared much about him and forget him as a lost memory. A reader could feel pain the way the poet points towards the people who he considered his friends but they don’t care much about him and causing him to speak about them in such a pessimistic way.
The tone of this poem is sad, depressed and hopeless that depicts the defeat of the poet. The third and fourth lines of the first stanza are revealing the emotional attitude of the poet and points towards the fact that he had no companion to share his sorrows with. The selection of the words “self-consumer of my woes” portrays a heart-drenching picture and reveals his sadness and isolation that he is all alone. Repetition of words “I am” points towards the sorrowful mood and tone of the poem, as the poet is declaring his defeat in front of the world in a very painful way. The individualistic aspect of the poem portrays the depressing tone of the poet as he cuts off himself from the world and wants to go to some other world. The pitiful tone of the poem becomes more evident when certain terms are looked upon in detail. The words “stifled throes” is purposely used by the poet for creating emotional as well as painful picture as these words are expressing the pain of the poet that is holding back in him.
Use of depressing words is showering light on the depressive tone of this literary work. For example, the poet continuously struggles and hides his feelings from the world (Karremann et al, 2015). Throughout the poem, the sad and emotional side of the poem remains dominant as the poet though seems free but in fact, he is entrapped in the cage of his feelings despite living free. Shades of self-pity could also be found in the tone of this poem as the poet finds nothing good in him and thinks of all bad things about him. The second stanza also points towards the depressed tone of the poem as the poet jumbled his feelings of being unworthy. “Where there is neither sense of life or joys" refers to the hopeless tone of the poem as the poet does not feel happy in his life and wanted to move to some other world. Defeated kind of tone of the poem shows that the poet is broken emotionally as all the people who once used to care about him have become stranger and this portrayal spots light on the hopeless tone of the poem.
The third stanza of the poem also highlights a sad and depressed tone as he claimed that he wanted to go to a place for long where there is neither happiness nor sadness (the place where he would meet God). This line “The grass below, above, the vaulted sky” shows the hopeless tone of the poem as the poet feels so disappointed that he wanted to leave this earth by leaving all his relations and associations far behind him. So taking a look at the overall poem “I am” by John Clare it could be said that the tone and emotional attitude of this poem is depressing and hopeless that the poet wanted to go to heaven, away from all those who do not care about him. Shades and tone of Self-pity and emotional appeal is also evident in this poem as the poet claims that he is defeated by his self as he failed to change himself.
The tone of “In a Dark Time” by Theodore Roethke
In a Dark Time is one of the famous poems of Theodore Roethke with a dark, lonely, forlorn and depressed tone. The whole poem has the same depressing mood and tone as each of the stanza refers to some object, place or phenomenon that drags the thoughts of the poet towards darkness. Throughout the poem, the emotional attitude of both the poet and the poem is dark as the very first line of the poem starts with the words "In a dark time, the eye begins to see”. The tone of the poem is depressing and the poet meets his shadow when it grows dark. Loneliness in the tone of this poem is quite evident when the readers look at the second line of the first stanza as a poet is so lonely that even he could hear the echo of the lonesome woods where he does not have any other human companion. Poet feels lonely and misses the old times when people used to love each other. The dark and sad tone of the poem could be sensed by taking a look at the conflict in which the poet got caught in between (Mondal et al, 2018). Tone and emotional appeal in the second stanza of the poem is also dark and depressing as there could be seen a direct reflection of the poet’s personal life on his writings likewise in this poem it could be seen that poet has experienced both despair and hardships and feels that he is lost in life at the edge of sanity. The dark tone of this poem also becomes more obvious when he claims in this poem that man struggles through dark times during his life especially when he has to make decisions.
Loneliness overshadows the third more than the rest of the poem as in this stanza poet got tired of talking to others and begins talking to himself while claiming that people waste their lives while conforming the society so it is better to stay loyal to one’s self. Loneliness overtook every individual and it is important to learn how to bring one's own self out of the darkness before teaching other how they could motivate people for bringing them out of darkness. Dislocation also overrides as tone of the poem. Purity is obtained when despair is completely experienced. The tone of the fourth stanza is also dark and lonely as the poet claims peacefulness of the mind is very important for escaping the darkness. The saddened tone of the fourth stanza becomes evident as the poet is confused about who he is. Loneliness is reflected as the tone of the poem as the poet claims that once one gives in his insanity, he reaches a state where he is free from any fear and enters into a higher state of mind.
So, taking a look at the poem, it won’t be wrong to say that tone opted by the poet is dark, sad, forlorn, and depressed as the poet does not find anything happy in his surroundings. Sadden and dark tone of the poem is maintained throughout the poem as the poet because of his loneliness could even hear the echo of the forest where he was. He is being victimized by the loneliness so the tone of this literary work is filled with depressive and lonesome elements. This poem emotionally appeals the readers who are moved by the isolation of the writer for whom being lonely is part of his life. Each of the line of the poem reflects the darkness inside the poet and the sad mood of the poem. Poet has distanced himself from this world and is left with no option other than bearing his loneliness. Darkness reflected from each and every word of this poem and emotional attitude of both poet and poem saddens the reader as well as poet experience dark and isolation most of the time.
References
Karremann, I. (2015). Human/Animal Relations in Romantic Poetry: The Creaturely Poetics of Christopher Smart and John Clare. European Journal of English Studies, 19(1), 94-110.
Mondal, P. (2018). “The edge is what I have”: The Existentialist notion of Edge and Abyss in Theodore Roethke’s Poems. Research Journal (Arts), 81.
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