Tone & Mood

The tone reflects the speaker's attitude toward the subject of the work. Mood is the feeling the reader experiences as a result of the tone. Tone and mood provide an emotional painting of a work and are created by the writer's choices. In Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress", his tone is very urgent. The speaker seems to really want the girl and is seemingly begging for her. His pressing demeanor makes the reader feels like he is in dire need of the woman and is dying without her. Whereas in "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" Robert Herrick's speaker is speaking in a tone of admonition and is merely warning the women to marry young. He does not seem to be in a rush and is in no way prompting the women to marry at that moment. He is cautioning the women to marry while they are young because being a "virgin" does not last forever. Moreover in Hamlet, King Claudius' tone truly depicts the type of character Claudius is. When Claudius is telling Hamlet that he should no longer mourn, he speaks in a very narcissistic tone. Claudius always makes it seem as if he is better than anyone, although he is the King he is not at all humble. Claudius' condescending tone also shows how is he as a character. Also, Claudius spoke very nonchalantly of his father's death, through that scene the reader could tell that the King did not have a soul. The Queen also speaks in a commandeering tone and admonishes Hamlet for his continued mourning. Although as the ex-King's wife she should also be mourning. Hamlet speaks in a very sarcastic tone about his mother when he says "good mother," because he does not truly believe the Queen to be good but unmoral. Hamlet sees his mother as a horrible wife and most likely the complete polar opposite of "good mother." The tone and mood are quintessential to every single piece of literature because they both give the reader a sense of liveliness.

Diction

Diction is the author's choice of words, often carefully in order to convey precise meanings. A word can have a literal meaning, or denotation, so when analyzing diction one must consider all of the possible meanings for the word. If the words have hidden meanings or meanings that need to be found bout by relating back to the material, or connotation, the reader needs to know these meanings also. The tone could be affected by the connotation in the case of formal or informal diction which could be referred to as colloquial language, or the vernacular. Diction may also be abstract or concrete. The phrase "vegetable love" in To His Coy Mistress has many meanings one could see the "vegetable" as a literal thing or interpret it as something that has a life and a course. "Vegetable love" is a love that starts anew and then dies but keeps starting anew due to its seeds. Andrew Marvell used great diction when referring to love. Moreover, the diction used in Hamlet is also very vivid. For example, when Hamlet says "good mother" he is not necessarily calling his mother "good" but has an edge to it and says it very sarcastically. Furthermore, when the King tells Hamlet to not go back to Wittenberg he comes off as being nice but Claudius is really implying a command. Claudius is commanding Hamlet to not go back to Wittenberg although his diction may show otherwise.

Imagery

Imagery is very important for a poem expressing its view. Imagery truly paints a picture of poems. The vivid imagery depicted by the metaphors in "His Coy Mistress." The metaphors used throughout the poem with lines such as "vegetable love" and others give the reader a great image of the poem. Authors use metaphors and figurative language to give the poem a soul.

sounds of poetry

The meter and rhyme scheme truly depict the image of the poem. The imagery and alliteration within the poem gives it a character and defines it. The sounds of poetry play a huge role when dissecting the poem because ultimately they are essential to the poem. The rhyme scheme also will dictate how the reader sees the poem. In Prufrock or Marvells' poems we use the sounds of imagery to tell what kind of poem it is.