1. What is this poem about?
The poem is about the speaker's deep affection for a small, quiet park they pass through daily on their commute to work in the city. The speaker finds solace and beauty in the park’s natural elements—its trees, breeze, greenness, and flowers—and carries these qualities with them into their urban environment, contrasting the park’s peace with the city’s hustle.
2. What is the speaker’s tone?
The speaker’s tone is appreciative, reverent, and tender.
Explain your answer using textual evidence.
The tone is evident in phrases like “I carry off a piece of you,” “Your greenness, Your cleanliness,” and “All your riches wait in place / For me to borrow.” These lines show the speaker values the park deeply, treating it almost as a cherished companion or sanctuary. Words like “sweet bird calls” and “fresh at morning” evoke a sense of gratitude and gentle admiration, while the rhetorical question “Do you hear this praise of you...?” reinforces the reverent, almost worshipful tone.
3. What is this poem about?
The poem is about the speaker’s intense desire to escape from emotional and physical pain, symbolized by shame and discarded flesh, and to find release or renewal in the vibrant, transformative moment of sunset.
4. What is the speaker’s tone?
The speaker’s tone is desperate, yearning, and ultimately euphoric.
Explain your answer using textual evidence.
The tone begins with desperation: “I look at the swaling sunset / And wish I could also / Through the red doors beyond the black-purple bar.” The imagery of “shame like shoes in the porch” and “flesh discarded lying / Like luggage of some departed traveller” conveys a sense of burden and self-loathing. However, the tone shifts to euphoria in the final stanza: “Then I would turn round / And seeing my cast-off body lying like lumber, / I would laugh with joy.” This sudden shift to laughter and joy reveals a longing for liberation and transformation, culminating in a triumphant, almost ecstatic release.
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of tone worksheet 3.
