Tone

He would declare and could himself believe
That the birds there in all the garden round
From having heard the daylong voice of Eve
Had added to their own an oversound,
Her tone of meaning but without the words.

Robert Frost "Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same" (l. 1–5). . . The Poetry of Robert Frost. Edward Connery Lathem, ed. (1979) Henry Holt.

...I ... believe that words can help us move or keep us paralyzed, and that our choices of language and verbal tone have something—a great deal—to do with how we live our lives and whom we end up speaking with and hearing; and that we can deflect words, by trivialization, of course, but also by ritualized respect, or we can let them enter our souls and mix with the juices of our minds.

Adrienne Rich Blood, Bread and Poetry, ch. 5 (1986). From “Toward a More Feminist Criticism,” an address delivered by Rich at the opening of the “Feminist Studies in Literature” symposium, University of Minnesota, 1981. )

I can recall the idea of "tone" being very hard to grasp and then discuss when I studied poetry as a young student. Even today after working with language and literature for 35 years, my sense that "tone" is difficult to explain remains. One may be sensitive to tone without being able to define precisely what one is noticing that tells one the poem is angry or bitter or stoic or awe struck. Moreover, we are often aware that tones can shift and be directed toward different elements that comprise the poem. One way to gain entry into the subtleties of tone is to remember that tone is a matter of voice. Tone speaks. When we are (or were) told by our parents that they don't like the tone of voice we are using, they mean the way we are saying what we are saying--the sarcastic "sorry" or the angry "all right!" Tone is what allows us to say a word such as "well" in many different ways--each of which might announce a different mood or interpretation of a situation. In life, the interpretation of tone is supported by other cues or clues, a raised eyebrow or the tilt of one's head. In writing we do not have such cues--emoticons notwithstanding.

How can a reader tell if one is on the right track with tone? We can recall the advice given regarding symbols. It has applicability to this question. We look for evidence in various places so that a pattern is formed. We look for support in the images and what they suggest, in the language itself, the words chosen and their connotations, in the rhythm and syntax and its effects. In short, the poem as a totality supports the interpretation of its tone. That is why assessment of tone is such an art itself; one is noticing the "how" of the poem in addition to its content or "what" of the poem. Moreover, an interpretation of authorial tone can be derived from an awareness of the total context of the poem's occasion for having been written. Such is the case with Dryden's [Why should a foolish marriage vow], a discussion of which is on this page. http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/fitchf/readlit/poesitspocc.htm

If one reads the poem aloud, as one gives expression to the voice of the speaker of the poem one can hear the tones the poem invites in one's own voice. This is, in my estimation, one great avenue into the tone of a poem. Therefore, readers should always try to discover tone in the act of reading aloud.

Here, for example, is a link to Audre Lorde's poem, "Hanging Fire" as well as to a terrific set of suggestions for reading, rereading and analyzing this poem. As you read the poem, think especially about the tone of the youthful speaker. Think about how young people talk. Are all the complaints and concerns being given voice here to be said in the same tone or are they best articulated with more inflections that vary from the profound to the more trivial? Or would an adolescent not make those very distinctions since "I should have been on Math Team/ my marks were better than his" may seem as profound as "suppose I die before graduation/ they will sing sad melodies/ but finally/ tell the truth about me." Decisions about the speaker and her tone will happen as we read Lorde's poem aloud and, as Rich says above, "let them [the words] enter our souls and mix with the juices of our minds."

Suggestion for a small group tone project:

See if you can find a small group for this. Each person should read and prepared one poem that strikes you as particularly effective or interesting that you want to share with the group. Make sure you give them to each other before you meet. Then contact each other and "discuss" your poems. Try to talk in detail to each other about images, lines, meanings, impressions of the speaker and his or her tone for your chosen poems. It might make it more interesting to do this on the phone (three way calling?) or online in a chat room. Of course, each of you should have read each other's poems. When you talk about the poems, select three or four words or phrases or images which you feel are crucial for the interpretation of tone and try to explain why.

Once you have done that (or before and after, if you like) each person is to record his or her poem on tape or on disc, reading aloud and capturing as much of the appropriate tone as possible. Send each other the results! It is fun to do this. One can also try out poems with similar subjects but very different tones. That might make a set!

Two tone projects for Elizabeth Bishop:

Project #1

1. Go to the Annenberg/CPB Spotlight on Vision and Voices http://www.learner.org/catalog/extras/vvspot/ Here, of course you can browse and enjoy the links; you can visit each poet and to hear clips and even video shorts from the series. But then be sure you listen to and watch the clip from Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art." The very famous actress who reads the poem and whose name escapes me does a very impressive job reading the subtle and shifting tones of the poem.
2. The text of the poem itself is available at the Academy of American poets: "One Art."http://www.poets.org/poems/poems.cfm?prmID=972 Be sure you read it as well as listen to it.
3. Then go to the American Poetry's page devoted to Elizabeth Bishop http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/bishop/bishop.htm with its two pages of critical essays on "One Art."
4. Read the excerpts of criticism with tone in mind. In fact use the Ctrl F function to find all the critical references to tone. See if you can trace the critical analysis of it. What do the critics understand her tone(s) to be? Does this increase your appreciation of the poem?

Project #2

Go to the Atlantic Online Poetry Pages for Bishop http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/poetry/soundings/bishop.htm

This page treats Bishop's poem "Sonnet." Scroll down to the poem itself. Read it. Then one by one, listen to the different readings which Gail Mazur, Robert Pinsky, Llyod Schwartz, and Mark Strand have given the poem.

Listen to them several times. How do their varied vocal inflections and tones reveal how they interpret the poem? Are you more attentive to the poem and your own reading of it after having heard theirs? Do you understand it better? You might journal on the differences among them and on your own feelings. Try recording the poem yourself.

More links

• Consider Robert Pinskey's "Favorite" Poem Project: http://www.favoritepoem.org/
  • Here you will discover that the poet laureate of the United States, Robert Pinsky, invited Americans to read and record their favorite poems. The project went on for about two years and closed in April of 1999 with 17,000 persons sending in their poems. If they can do it, so can we. At the web site, you can listen to many persons read their poems and briefly state why they chose the poem.
• The Atlantic Monthly online Soundings http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/poetry/soundings/
  • devoted to multiple readings of classic poetry--a must visit!
• Minnesota Public Radio: http://access.mpr.org/features/9805_dedication/
  • Here is another site that features ordinary people reading or speaking poetry aloud: It begins with Garrison Keillor reading a poem aloud but then it includes about ten minutes of members of his audience reciting poems that they have committed to memory.
• AAP's Listening Booth: http://www.poets.org/index.cfm
  • Here is an amazing page called the "Listening Booth" on The Academy of American Poet's web site: The link is to the site's main page.
  • Go to the Poetry Exhibits Page and click on the Listening Booth. The index lists several poets who are in our text's chapters on Tone and Speaker.
  • I strongly recommend this site. For example, you can hear Gwendolyn Brooks reading her poem, "We Real Cool." You can also hear Galway Kinnell reading "After Making Love We Hear Footsteps," Maxine Kumin doing "Woodchucks," and Theodore Roethke reading "My Papa's Waltz," all of which are classics in anthologies. Some of you will want to hear Sharon Olds read one of her "father" poems--"The Ferryer."
• Harper Collins http://www.harpercollins.com/audioexcerpts/index.htm
  • At this site Harper/Collins has nicely given us samples of artists reading their works from their tapes for sale. If this link takes you to the Harper/Collins home page, just click on the Audio icon. Most of the links are to audio books but the second page of links has some poetry.