Life in today's society can often be hectic and chaotic, full of appointments, commitments, anxiety, and various other factors that contribute to the tumultuous way of life that accompanies life in the modern world. Wendell Berry and Benn L. Jordan recognized that there was a problem with our frenzied way of life, and address this issue through the use of the themes of their poems Winter's Last Gasp (Benn L. Jordan), and The Peace of Wild Things (Wendell Berry). These address their common theme of people needing to remove themselves from the harsh realities of the modern world occasionally through the use of tone and symbolism, and through the use of nature as an extended metaphor, although nature's role differs between the two poems.
The tones of these two poems play significant roles with regards to the development of the theme in each of the poems. The way that they accomplish this, and the actual tones of the poems are very different though. The tone of the poem Winter's Last Gasp is one of melancholy reminiscence, whereas the tone of The Peace of Wild Things is of peaceful escape from anxiety. The tone of these two poems is developed through their use of imagery, for example when the speaker says “the cold bites my hands” (Jordan), this is meant to symbolize the pain he feels on account of his loss, which develops the melancholy portion of the tone. In The Peace of Wild Things the peaceful tone is developed by many different mechanisms of literature, among which is also imagery. The use of the image of the “still water” (Berry), gives an impression of tranquility. Another portion of the tone that is present in the poem Winter's Last Gasp is that of reminiscence, which is developed through the author's use of diction, and his repeated use of the word “remember” (Jordan). The second portion of the tone of The Peace of Wild Things is also developed through the use of diction; with phrases such as “despair for the world” (Berry) and “fear of what my life and my children's lives may be” (Berry), the author effectively creates a tone of anxiety in the first portion of his poem. The tones of these poems are important to the theme because they reveal the specific elements of modern society that the authors feel it necessary to seek asylum from. In the case of Winter's Last Gasp, the modern world brings sadness and painful memories; in the case of The Peace of Wild Things, modern society brings anxiety, which the author needs to find an escape from. Although the tones of these poems are very different, the ways that the tones are developed are the same between the two, and the role of the tone in revealing part of the theme is also the same between the two poems.