DEFINITION : The tone of a poem is the mood of the situation in a poem; a tone can
change.

EXAMPLE :

Introduction to Poetry

I ask them to take a poem

and hold it up to the light

like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem

and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem’s room

and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski

across the surface of a poem

waving at the author’s name on the shore.

But all they want to do

is tie the poem to a chair with rope

and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose

to find out what it really means.

The tone of the poem's beginning is bright and happy. But the ending part is depressing and evil.

SIGNIFICANCE : The tone of a poem is very important because the tone is what helps

readers to decide the poem's mood and it makes the poem more alive

by adding imagery to it.

Yoon's Poetry