Final answer:
The tone of Lissaint's poetic performance is initially intimate and becomes inquisitive and introspective as it progresses. The tone changes with the stanzas, reflecting the narrative, interrogative, and lyrical shifts in the speaker's voice. These shifts in tone add a dynamic quality to the poem, enhancing the audience's emotional engagement.
Step-by-step explanation:
The tone of Lissaint's poetic performance can be described as having started with a sense of intimacy and disclosure in the opening stanza, creating a connection between the speaker and the audience. As the poem progresses, the tone adopts an inquisitive nature, shown through the use of direct questions, such as 'or was it the coldness?' This shift in tone invites the reader or listener to ponder alongside the speaker. Furthermore, the reader's emotional reaction to the poem plays a role in deciphering the tone, which can vary from serious, and meditative, to introspective. The speaking voice in the poem shows evolution throughout the stanzas, indicating a change from a narrative mode to an interrogative and finally to a lyrical and introspective voice, as observed in the final stanzas. The fragmented and shifting narrative style could influence the reader to feel more engaged and to actively piece together the thematic elements of the poem, thus impacting the overall tone.
In literature, tone is an essential element that contributes to the engagement between the text and its audience. It is what signals the reader about the speaker's attitude and sets the emotion behind the words, thus replacing the traditional trust system that was based on rhythm and rhyme. In modern poetry, like the works of Lissaint, the emphasis often shifts towards this expressive quality of tone, which becomes especially crucial in the absence of traditional poetic elements.
Ultimately, the poem's tone is not consistent but rather changes to reflect the different emotional or contemplative states of the speaker, which adds depth and a dynamic quality to the performance, resonating with the character of the speaker's voice mentioned by Billy Collins in his analysis of poetic voices.