English 2 Poem Theme & Tone
Tone: The quality of the speaker’s language is more concealing than loving. The setting seems
to be at a motel with two “lovers” who take a great deal of effort to hide their affair. They are said
to have no names and they intend to conceal everything that involves each other, as if it is a
routine. They have duties to keep everything unchanged and the way they found it. The rushed
tone with detailed desire suggests their hidden deep feelings that they are forced to conceal.
The tone shifts towards the end when the thought of leaving things behind comes to mind. The
lines are short and simple which suggest a rushed and impersonal situation accompanied by a
secret desire to make that nothingness last.
Theme: This poem is expressing a lot about the speaker. It seems that they are taking great
lengths to have an affair with another person in a motel. By the repeated checking of making
sure nothing was left behind or taken, it seems to be that this has been a routine for quite some
time. More towards the end of the poem, the theme seems to change more towards the wishing
or hoping to be able to leave things behind. The response to the rushed tone in the poem is the
speaker expressing a undesired yet desirable routine in their secretive encounters.