The emotional quality or atmosphere of a passage is its mood. In poetry, the choice of words, the length of lines, the rhythm, and other elements all contribute to creating a certain mood.
Read the poem “Summer” by Joan Bransfield Graham. Think about how the poem makes you feel, and then answer the questions that follow. The questions may help you figure out how a poem, though it is only words on paper, can convey feelings to the reader.
1 Ring around
the seasons,
dilly-dally-dum,
feel the summer
5 coming,
beating on her
drum.
First, it’s only
tapping,
10 then it starts
to boom,
pounding
on the pavements,
marching
15 in your room.
Throw off
your blankets,
pile them
on the floor,
20 pull up
the windows
open up
the door.
No way
25 to stop her,
dilly-dally-dum,
when hot-blooded
summer
decides to beat
30 her drum.
- Which of the five senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell) does the author use the most in this poem? What feelings is the author trying to evoke with each sense used? How do the senses create a mood for the reader?
- The author has chosen to construct this poem with very short lines. How does this affect your reading of the poem? What feelings are conveyed?
- Quote the lines or words that most convey the mood of the poem. Explain your choices.