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Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Beowulf’s Funeral (Lines 3110–3182)
Explanation and Analysis:
The mood of Beowulf is at once celebratory and melancholy. The poem tells the story of legendary events that took place centuries earlier, both honoring the achievements of a heroic age and mourning the passing of time and the inevitability of death. This dual mood is evident in the final scene of the poem, in which the Geats lay their king, Beowulf, to rest alongside the treasures found in the dragon’s hoard:
THEN fashioned for him the folk of Geats
firm on the earth a funeral-pile,
and hung it with helmets and harness of war
and breastplates bright, as the boon he asked;
and they laid amid it the mighty chieftain,
heroes mourning their master dear. [...]
In heavy mood
their misery moaned they, their master's death.
Wailing her woe, the widow old,
her hair upbound, for Beowulf's death
sung in her sorrow, and said full oft
she dreaded the doleful days to come,
deaths enow, and doom of battle,
and shame. The smoke by the sky was devoured.
Related Themes:
