Tone/Mood

The tone and mood of a literary work is the general sentiment of the piece. There are obvious tones-angry,sad,depressed,happy,etc-in most poems we have read. For example in Stafford's "Traveling through the Dark" the tone is dark and morbid. It begins with the mention of a dead deer and throughout the poem there is a haziness that lingers. The "warm exhaust turning red" adds to an eeriness in the mood and tone. And the attention given to the dead deer and its description such as "stood by the heap, a doe, a recent killing.... she had stiffened already, almost cold." adds to the depressing nature of the poem. These are just a couple examples. I leave the poem in a more saddened state.Tone and mood certainly give a piece a specific feeling which oftentimes impresses itself upon the reader.