Chapter 10 Tone #3

8.

After reading "The Apparation", I found that the tone of the poem was one of vengence. This is due to both the imagery and the diction. The diction used in this poem adds a dark, angry scene. His anger transfers to the desire to haunt and make his once love's life. Some of these words are "sick, "wretch", "painfully", and "ghost". All of these words have a negative connotation. From this, I think that the poem is meant to reveal the speakers anger. It is almost like he is venting. In addtion to the diction, the imagery of the poem reveals the theme of vengence. When the speaker says "shall my ghost come to thy bed"(line4), the speaker is showing how he is following and haunting her. Also, he says that she will be "bathed in a cold quicksilver sweat"(line12). This image shows how afraid and frightened she will be of him. The way he words this stanza makes me think that he will enjoy her feeling this way because he is saying it in a biting way, like he doesn't care he would do this. Also, when he talks about her new guy, he is talking bad like no guy will ever be as good as him. He wants her to realize that her new guy cannot help her and if she had stayed with the speaker it would have all been fine.

Figurative Language Poetry #5

When I read "Toads", I was really confused. I somewhat understood it, but the questions at the end posed my questions. One of the questions said that there was two toads being described. I easily recognized the first one because it is stated right there in italics. The first toad is work. I assumed that this toad had a somewhat negative implication of work. The diction that is used along with this toad are "squat", "sickening poison", and "soils". All of these words have a bad feel to them! From this, I think that Larkin is insinuating that letting work lead your life is not a good thing. After this, I kind of saw the other toad as letting work not take over your life. Rather, work is just the way to making the personal and desired way of life possible. It should not be a burden. Work is what will give them "fame the girl and the money" (line 30). This is my thoughts on what the two toads were. I am not sure if this is right though, which is why I was confused.

Figurative Language Poetry #4

8.
After reading "Pink Dog", I found that the tone of this poem is satirical and humorous. The poem's tone is achieved through the diction and imagery of the poem. The diction in this poem, such as "idiots", "ebbing", "drugged, drunk, or sober", and "naked and pink", support the humor and satire. All of these words are not formal, and some of the phrases are just absurd and funny. The poet is obviously not trying to make a point by saying everything wrong. Rather, he is saying how they will deal with the problem in a satirical way. The phrases throughout the poem that explain this are actually really funny. When he says that " the beggars who can afford them now wear life preservers", I for real laughed. I mean this is obviously not happening, but the poor are being treated that bad! I did not fully understand this poem, but the humerous diction and imagery of the actions taking place gave me a better understanding.