https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FGGuwrX6Uk

In poetry, mood is the feeling and the emotion that a writer wants to create in their reader.  It is also the atmosphere that the writer wants to create (www.masterclass.com).  Writers can create mood with their word choice, imagery, setting, and tone.  The tone of the poem, the writer’s attitude and point of view, affect the mood of a poem.  Some examples of mood are: Romantic, optimistic, mournful, sorrowful, cheerful, mysterious, ominous, calm, and pessimistic (www.poemanalysis.com).  Mood is important in a poem because it helps readers connect to what they are reading through emotion and feeling.  People often read to find connections to their lives and experiences and because they want to feel something when reading.  Here are examples of well known poets using mood to create feeling in the reader:

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow

From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Nameless here for evermore.

 

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating

“’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—

Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—

This it is and nothing more.”

The use of the words “bleak”, “dying”, “ghost” and “terror” create a mood that is scary, sad and that make connections to death.  Poe repeats the words “Lenore” and “sorrow” and the line “visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door” which give the feeling that the speaker is bothered by something more deeply.  With December as the month when the poem takes place, the reader already pictures a cold, sad situation.  The feeling of the speaker and the reader are as cold and bleak as Winter.

 

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

The mood of this poem is mysterious because the reader doesn’t know where the speaker is going.  The imagery of the woods being “dark and deep” creates the feeling of mystery and also creepiness.  The speaker repeating that they have “miles to go before I sleep” also gives the feeling that the speaker is on a long journey.

Still, I Rise by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may tread me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

The mood of this poem is powerful and confident.  The image of the speaker being walked on in the dirt, and the simile of being “like dust” rising up gives the mood of determination.  The reader gets an image of a person standing up to a bully.