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.