tone/mood

The tone and mood of any written piece is exposed through the diction. While analyzing the words and listening to the way they sound, and understanding what they mean, it is easy to detect what the author had in mind for the tone and feel of the poem. But sometimes you have to dig a little deeper, because tonal shifts can often occur, and the author suddenly changes his or her tone. For example, in the poem "To his Coy Mistress", the poem starts out using words like "love" "adore" "grow" vast". These words signify a growing love, while he speaks of time, and loving in the moment. But really there's a twist. He proves that he doesn't truly love her, throughout the tonal changes in the poem. And when words like "iron gates" "rough" "strife" and "instant fires" appear, so does a shift in mood and tone. Just using words and phrases alone, a tone and mood is set and revealed.