what is the tone and mood of this poem>?

Question

Sonnet 30
Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink
Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;
Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink
And rise and sink and rise and sink again;
Love can not fill the thickened lung with breath,
Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;
Yet many a man is making friends with death
Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.
It well may be that in a difficult hour,
Pinned down by pain and moaning for release,
Or nagged by want past resolution’s power,
I might be driven to sell your love for peace,
Or trade the memory of this night for food.
It well may be. But I do not think I would.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Answer 1

Of all literary elements, tone is perhaps the least easily defined, or described. Yet it is critically important to the reader--and especially to works like this poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Briefly, tone refers to the attitude expressed in the poem toward the subject and the reader. It is virtually synonymous with mood. In the first six lines of this poem, for example, the speaker's tone is casual, matter-of-fact, almost cynical or skeptical, certainly anti-romantic: "Love is not all." In fact, if you want to be honest about it, let's face it: love can't do much for you. Then suddenly the tone makes an abrupt shift:

Yet many a man is making friends with death
Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.

The poem then continues with lines that are personal, realistic, brutally honest, a bit apologetic or confessional, even provocative: in so many words, the speaker says, "I may not always be true to you, baby! I might be driven to betray your love." Then once again, the tone shifts:

It well may be. But I do not think I would.

The tone of most of the poem is frank, down-to-earth, sensible, maybe even a bit callous. I would, therefore, say that the irony of the poem is that the statement of love is all the more credible, even romantic, because in its honesty it avoids superficial romanticism.

The mood of the speaker, therefore, is affectionate and loving but determined to be candid, not to overspeak.

Hence, because of its handling of tone the poem seems to be not so much the declaration of love on the part of the speaker but a rejection of superficial romanticism and high-flown romantic imagery on the part of the poet. The language of love, the poet seems to be saying, is overblown, exaggerated; vows are idealistic and unearthly. But love itself may be a matter of life and death. For lack of love, many a man may be making "friends with death."

The tone of the poem, thus, is modest and self-effacing in its avowal of love, but confident and self-assertive in its rejection of the romantic conventions of the language of love. "Words cannot say I love you; so I'm not gonna stretch words to try to make them say I love you."

Answer 2

my unemployment set the tone for my stinky mood today.

Answer 3

Was wondering the same question

Answer 4

I think it depends

Answer 5

Do not think so

Answer 6

i have absolutely no idea what the tone is(or what u mean by that....)but i can say that the mood is probably romantic...