What Is The Mood Of The Poem 'Loud Music'?

I thoroughly liked the poem "Loud Music" because it describes a simple bliss with so much detail that the story seems to come alive. It is simply the perspectives of two very different people and how they react to this loud music, or how they can see themselves in the noise. The author uses no restrictions, the imagery is animated and loud, just like real-life boisterous music, you can "witness" the "thick cloud making the water gray and restless", and you can feel the throbbing, "hand smacking" music that rings in your ears. The writing is simple and easy to grip, yet complex enough to intrigue the reader with its very vibrant imagery.

Imagery, diction, and figurative language are one of the biggest factors that make this poem is intriguing. Imagery is used to express emotion in the poem, for example, the stepdaughter feels that "she disappears" and is "lost within the blare". The personification of the music adds to the imagery of the poem. The most compelling use of imagery in this poem is the description of what the two different people would see in a "box." The narrator explains with "as if some creature brooded underneath" and "where someone like me was walking and has gone". This helps create the mood of the poem, and the almost reflective state of mind the narrator is in. Use of hyperbole furthers the distinction between the two
perceptions.

There are some uses of musical devices in this poem.
In the beginning, there are soft o sounds, but as the poem goes on to describe the music, the sounds become much harsher with the uses of words such as "blasted", "rocky", and "cranked". This free verse has no specific consistency regarding either rhyme or length. The line breaks in the poem are random and scattered. There really aren't pauses in the poem except near the end, "loud music does this, it wipes off the ego," and "how clear the air becomes, how sharp the colors". As the poem makes it's way to the end, a line holds a complete
thought.

The resolution felt like an end of a story, it explains the impact of "loud music" on both the narrator and the step-daughter, not just their individual perspectives. The author brought the music alive along with the characters and in the end, we do get a lasting impression. There was a steady progress in the poem and it really helped with the development. There was no real "turning point", the whole poem was expressed with one general thought and the ending was neither too unexpected or predictable. Overall, this poem gave me chance to analyze my writing with more use of figurative language, and especially imagery to animate my writing.