Consider the following remarks by Robert Frost:

"Sentences are not different enough to hold the attention unless they are dramatic. No ingenuity of varying the structure will do. All that can save them is the speaking tone of voice somehow entangled in the words and fastened to the page for the ear of the imagination. That is all that can save poetry from sing-song, all that can save prose from itself."

Frost places much significance on how lines are read. He would rate tone of voice as important as metaphor or sound effect. Consider the implication of his statement in the poems assigned. Do you agree or disagree with him? How does this emphasis on voice alter your reading of these poems? Does it help you to better grasp them?

2. Identify the dramatic situation: What's going on? Who is the speaker? Who is the audience?

3. What is the relationship of the dramatic situation to the poem's theme?

4. Does tone play an important role in this poem? Explain. What about irony? How does tone/irony affect your reading?