Tone and Mood

Tone and mood serve as the emotional impact of a work onto the reader. Moreover, the tone of a poem can cause the reader to feel a soothing, calm feeling or an anger-filled emotion. A great example of a poem that employs an array of different tones is Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress". The poem stars out very beautifully and sweet sounding, with key words and phrases that emphasize the speakers never ending love towards his mistress, as he focuses on her specific body parts as well as their love as strong as a "vast empire". But, the simple word "but" in the beginning of the second stanza completely changes the entire mood and tone of the poem, becoming less loving and more rushed and discomforting. By the last stanza of the poem, the tone completely shifts because of the crass, disturbing and harsh consonant sounds and images that the stanza employs. "Amorous birds of prey", "rough strife", and "Iron gates of life" are all examples of the drastic tone shift from the first stanza, where the emphasis of the poem was previously focused on The speaker's "vegetable love" towards his mistress. Therefore, the shift in tone effects the whole mood and image that the reader sees in his or her head while reading a work. Lastly, the tone determines the emotional experience in which a reader will encounter while reading the work.

Diction

Diction can be defined as the articulation of speech regarded from the point of view of its intelligibility to the audience. However, diction is really the combination of all literary devices as well as a careful explination of setting, tone, imagery, sounds, symbols, and characters. Careful choice of diction expresses each of the elements above. For example, Yeat's "A Prayer for My Daughter" expresses the perfect choice of diction in almost every line. "May she become a flourishing hidden tree" employs all of the literary devices, including the metaphor of a "flourishing tree" which ultimately represents the child growing in the future. Also, the line gives the reader a sense of what the flourishing tree looks like, creating a sensory experience of imagery, as well as creating a setting through the image of the tree. Lastly, the tree is personified as Yeats' daughter. The most important aspect of any poem or longer work is the utilization of all literary and poetic devices, which ultimately unfold as strong diction and word choice. Therefore, diction is the most important aspect of a work because it is the mere choice of words.

Imagery

Imagery brings all of the senses into poetry. Moreover, imagery allows descriptive settings to come to live. Imagery causes the reader to feel, see and touch whatever is being described through distinct poetic devices. Each element of poetry, such as the setting's physical characteristics, is brought together through figurative language and imagery. For example, William Carlos Williams' poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" describes the setting in which the poem takes place, and through the description of setting and the distinct sounds, the imagery all falls into place. "Glazed with rain water" is such a vivid image that not only triggers the sense of seeing, but the reader can almost feel the rain water and touch the wetness. Moreover, such a simple poem can employ the vivid imagery that all poems try to utilize. Imagery is commonly achieved through the utilization of assonance, sibilance, and other poetic devices. For example, Robert Frost's "Out, Out" creates an overpowering image from the first word to the last. Line 3, which states "Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it" causes the reader to engage in all 5 senses through the sibilance of the "s" and the soft "e" sound that makes the reader feel caught in the wind. Therefore, imagery can be achieved through many literary sound devices, the sound of a poem, and the mere description of the setting of a poem.

Sounds

Sounds bring imagery and sense to a work. More than longer works, poems truly bring out the intensity of sound through alliteration, assonance, rhyme, and other literary devices. Moreover, the poem Ozymandias utilizes many different poetic devices that change up the sound of the poem. The first half of the poem flows consistently with rhyme and fluid sentences and a lack of wordiness. However, there are certain phrases such as "cold command" that make the reader feel like they are in the poem and such consonance refers to the lonely ruins that remain. However, the fluidity of the poem ends quickly with the caesura "Nothing besides remains". After the caesura, the poems fluidity and smooth sound quickly ends and becomes choppy. The importance of sound in this poem is to express the change in time from a smooth, vast empire to choppy and stoney remains. Therefore, sounds aid to the story line of the poem while explaining the details and setting through fluidity and choppiness.