Preview

D.h lawrence's "piano"poem; the meaning is conveyed through the tone

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1066 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
D.h lawrence's "piano"poem; the meaning is conveyed through the tone
Bicycle, fish, airplane, hat, card, homework, swing, flower, picture, sunglasses, watermelon, puddle, school bus, and lawnmower are words that connect with people with his or her memories in some way. An instant word can bring memories back into his or her reality. Their memories can be so vivid that their dreams may feel like present day. The stream of consciousness can take one word and recreate your whole past. In the poem, "Piano", written by D.H. Lawrence, the narrator is affected by the word piano. A woman sings softly to him while he reminiscences about his childhood and his happy memories of his mother. The narrator feels betrayed by the song that has sparked him to rethink the recollections. In his remembrance, the narrator cries for his lost past. In "Piano", D.H. Lawrence conveys the meaning of the poem with very distinct tones in each stanza: in the first, the tone is mellow; in the second, bitterly resentful; and in the third, the narrator is melancholic.

In the first stanza, the meaning is expressed with the tone that is conveyed as warm, mellow and tranquil. Lawrence uses words and phrases such as "Softly"(L1) and "in the dusk"(L1). These words express the atmosphere the narrator is in while he reminisces about his past. The narrator dreams of playing the piano with his mother and being aware of all the senses that he felt. "Softly"(L1) is also connected with the word piano. In musical terms, piano means to play soft and the word guides you through the song. "A mother who smiles as she sings"(L4) is a pleasant memory for the narrator because he is unaware of his present surroundings of another woman singing. A mellow tone communicates to the reader that the narrator is in a dream like state of mind.

Through the mellow tone the reader can capture a mental picture of what he is imagining. "A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings"(L3) has connected with the reader of what the narrator is dreaming. The reader feels like

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Machaunt's Mass

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages

    If time is taken to listen to the piece repeatedly, it becomes clearer that the tone is not dull but soothing and nourishing to the soul. The piece was written not for the common individuals of the time but the musically elite. It is a complex piece with great depth.…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Barred Owl

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The first line in the second stanza has a break after “words” accentuated by a comma putting emphasis on the word “words” and slowing the rhythm of that sentence. In “bravely clear” there is a reversed letter pattern “el” and “le”, which makes the words flow together. The words “child”, “night”, “some” and “small” are repeated throughout this poem perhaps to emphasize these words. There may be a connection between “child” and “thing” since both words are preceded by the word “small”. In lines ten and eleven there is internal rhyming with the words “listening”, “dreaming” and “thing” which have the same “ing” ending. The author uses alliteration in “some” and “small” which draws the two words together. In the last line there is…

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the poem the poet makes frequent use of the senses. Sounds are very prominent in this poem, as they bring the place to life. For example, ‘ringing shrilly’, or ‘clashed on the shore’. In the former example, at the start of the second stanza, this phrase is significant, as it effectively kills the jovial, relaxed mood from the first stanza, and creates a rather more eerie one. This mood does not last long however, and with the phrase ‘a veil of purple vapour flowed’, the jovial mood is restored. This image is one of several, along with ‘like sapphire glowed’, and ‘the saffron beach, all diamond drops’, which contain royal and rich connotations, emphasising how special this place is for the poet, that he would go as far as to compare it to expensive, valuable things like diamonds or saffron. The tranquil mood is upheld throughout by words of gentle movement such as ‘flowed’, ‘trailed’, or ‘wagged’. These all bring the place to life and give it a peaceful, tranquil atmosphere.…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Secret Life of Bees

    • 3403 Words
    • 14 Pages

    tone · Lily’s tone resembles the tone a child would effect when narrating a story in his or her diary, except with less self-loathing and more romantic language. Kidd relies on vivid imagery and poetic devices to help elevate the tone.…

    • 3403 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In my mind, I can hear the porch swings creaking and the soft night murmurs. The descriptive words used adds meaning to the text by creating suspense as well as allowing you to put sound with the picture you create in your mind.…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Box Room Essay Example

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the first stanza, the poet talks about the tension between the mother and her attitude towards her. She makes known to reader immediately that at the first meeting, the tension between the mother and herself was one that was harsh and bitter.…

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the passage “Sounds in the Woods”, the dialogue between characters greatly affects the mood. The boy’s conversations introduced a terrifyingly eerie mood from the exposition to the falling action. As the script approached the resolution, the characters brought forward a positive, worry free atmosphere. Therefore, the dialogue thoroughly showcases variation of mood throughout “Sounds in the Woods”.…

    • 180 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the lines 23-24 “Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor. He played a few chords then he sang some more–” (Hughes, 2016) the literature stirs the reader imagination and how the musician is thumping his feet on the ground. The effect of the piano playing stirs the imagination of how the musician his whole body and inner concentrate into the music playing. The musician takes a time thumping his feet till he sang the song. These words stir our imagination of how to interrupt the musician was into the piano playing.…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Here the reader is introduced to Sonny’s relationship with music. A vivid image is created of Sonny spending all the time he possibly has playing the piano. The passionate tone that Baldwin creates is being revealed to the reader, and the reader can see how dedicated Sonny is to his music.…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This shows that her daughter is simply too young to understand the complications of life and is content in her own little happy world, therefore signifying the innocence of children at that age. During the last stanza the mother says, "Iron talismans, and ugly, but/more loyal than mirrors," which shows that innocence is temporary therefore some part of it is going to be destroyed.…

    • 527 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The author use tone imagery that focuses on the old man and the other man. The words create the tone of the character, If…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Duffy’s overall tone throughout the poem has a very nostalgic feel as she looks back on her mother’s previous life. In stanza three the poet looks back at one of her childhood memories, “I remember my hands in those high-healed red shoes.” Here Duffy looks back fondly on her past to when her mother was alive. It shows how much the poet admires her mother as the memory is such a small one, but must have meant a lot to her. In stanza two her tone is quite light-hearted as she refers back to her mothers teenage years. “Your ma stands at the close with a hidden for a late one.” This shows her mothers relationship with her mum and how her life wasn’t as perfect as it seemed to be as she also had a rebellious side to her. At the beginning of stanza four Duffy shows an admiring tone towards the things her mother once taught her. “Cha cha cha! You’d teach me the steps on the way home from mass.”…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Piano”, The persona in the poem is listening to a woman singing and playing the piano. This makes him recall when he was a child, sitting under the piano listening to his mother play and sing on Sunday evenings in winter. He is nostalgic about the warmth and happiness of his childhood days. However, he seems to berate himself on recalling his childhood and views himself as sad and less masculine for giving in to his nostalgic impulses. With his ‘manhood cast/Down in the flood of remembrance’, he weeps, an act considered inappropriate for a man.…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the first stanza he said that “While I pondered weak and weary” (Line 1). In saying he pondered weak and weary this is negative mood. In a delusional state of mind, he said wearily and he was weak as he mourned the loss of his dear Lenore. After this he was in his study and there was tapping at the door where he opens it and says “Darkness there…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Weary Blues

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In “The Weary Blues” Hughes uses imagery to communicate to the reader what the narrator is experiencing while listening to blues. The reader can feel the slow and steady beat of the music: “He did a lazy sway…/ He did a lazy sway…” (4-5). The flow of the two lines mimics the beat of the music. The reader can hear the pain in the voice of the musician: “In a deep voice with a melancholy tone” (17). By using the word ‘melancholy’ the reader can understand there is sadness in his bass voice. One can see his hands working the piano in the dim light: “By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light/…/With his ebony hands on each ivory key” (5, 9). Due to the detailed description the reader can see the musician’s dark hand in contrast to the pale keys of the piano. Through the use of imagery Hughes has allowed the reader to empathize with the musician’s pain and relate to his suffering.…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays