Tone Worksheet Directions: Read each poem and then answer the following questions.
from Songs of an Empty House
By Marguerite Wilkinson I
My father got me strong and straight and slim,
And I give thanks to him;
My mother bore me glad and sound and sweet, --
I kiss her feet
I have no son, whose life of flesh and fire
Sprang from my splendid sire,
No daughter for whose soul my mother's flesh
Wrought raiment fresh.
Life's venerable? rhythms like a flood
Beat in my brain and blood,
Crying from all the generations past,
"Is this the last?"
And I make answer to my haughty dead,
Who made me, heart and head,
"Even the sunbeams falter, flicker and bend --
I am the end."
1. raiment: clothing or material
2. venerable: commanding respect because of age, character,
or position
3. haughty: expressing an attitude of superiority.
1. What is this poem about?
2. What is the speaker's tone?
Explain your answer using textual evidence.