What Is The Tone Of The Poem By Barbara Allan

This excerpt is from a ballad poem in which the persona, a man in love, is on his death bed trying to capture his lovers attention. In this poem, he is begging for someone to get a hold of Barbara Allan so that he can openly express his love for her before he dies. The mood and tone of the poem convey a sense of urgency. The man is in need of expressing his feelings before his time runs out. However, when he finally does state how he feels Barbara Allan moves slow and does not have any pity for him. The poet’s abundant use anxious diction allows the audience to see how much of a hurry the man was in to tell his feelings. The writers use of repition through diction also lets us know that Barbara Allans lack of interest/pity in the dying man. …show more content…
This is first seen when he said “hooly, hooly she rose up,”. When the lover first sent for Barbara Allan he told the man to say “O haste and come to my master dear,” The lover was in a rush to have Barbara Allan come to him however, instead of her moving fast she moves very slowly which shows that she was reluctant to come be at his side. The double usage of the word “hooly” also shows that her moving slowly effected the rush that he was in. Another word the writer used twice was “sick”. By choosing to say this word twice shows that the man is very sick and any moment could be his last. This only adds to the urgency of the matter but again Barbara Allan lacks pity for the