Question

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!

Through the windows—through doors—burst like a ruthless force,
Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation,
Into the school where the scholar is studying,
Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must he have now with his bride,
Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering his grain,
So fierce you whirr and pound you drums—so shrill you bugles blow.

In one paragraph of at least three to five sentences, analyze the tone and imagery used in the lines in bold. Identify the mood the author intended to create with this imagery, as well as the connotations used in the words "solemn," "quiet," and "peaceful." Use proper spelling and grammar.

Answer 1

Right off the bat, our speaker urges some drums and bugles to play their music. What band is playing this music?Drums, and especially bugles, have strong connotations as military instruments. So we have to consider that our speaker might be addressing a military band.But remember, he's talking to the drums and the bugles, not to the people playing them. This is an apostrophe (a direct address) to a bunch of inanimate objects. What's with that?You might have also noticed (read: you can't miss it) that our speaker seems a tad excited. There are only six words in this line, but each! word! gets! its! own! exclamation! point!Whatever is going on, it's got our speaker pretty worked up.