The Discardment Poem Tone

In the poem “The Discardment” there is a definite shift in tone at a certain area in the poem. This shift occurs at the oxymoron “intolerable joy”. This shift seems to be from a more of a lighthearted tone to more of a bitter tone. In this poem you can mainly see through light hearted tone through the description of the joy that the woman has when she received the present. In the poem it states the following “She put it on with exclamations,/ Her eyes shone, she called and cried/ She danced and mimed, sang snatches of the song./ she called blessings in her native tongue”. In this line there is an ability to see the light hearted area of the poem. We can see this due to the overwhelming joy that she has when she received the gift. The other
tone that is able to be seen is the bitter section. In this bitter section it is a little less straightforward. In the poem he states “In this intolerable joy. And so for nothing/ is purchased loyalty and trust”. In this you can how strongly the author feels about the subject. He states it as an “Intolerable joy”, meaning that this joy was partially disturbing. The fact that they are living in so much poverty leads the reader to know that if “she” would receive a worthless piece they would give their entire life. The fact of this extremely disturbing or as he says, “The destruction of a world”. This poem has two very different tones one which is lighthearted and, the other which is bitter. There is an ability to see this shift in tone at the oxymoron.