Tone in the Poetry

Abstract

The aim in this article is to expose that tone – in its acoustic, prosodic and, most of all tensive dimensions– is the creator of pathic-like sense effects. In other words, it is an affirmation regarding tone is a producer of affections in poetic discourse. The first part of this paper is dedicated to a general reflection on poetry as a genre oriented to arouse sensitive experience through the configuration of a particular tone. In the second part, the concept of tone is defined. Finally, three different Spanish-speaking poetic texts are analyzed –among them authors such as Octavio Paz and María Teresa Andruetto– in order to recognize what kind of discursive means are imbricated to modulate tone; it is paid special attention to the role of metrics and rhythm. The point of view adopted comes back to lucid reflections of poets such as Paul Valéry and Edgar Allan Poe, as well as insight on tense stylistics by Claude Zilberberg, without forgetting some approaches from Spanish stylistics as established by Dámaso Alonso and Tomás Navarro.