In the poem, "Home Burial" by Robert Frost, the use of dialogue creates a movie-like reading, engaging the reader in a new approach to experiencing poetry. Through the dialogue the reader is able to intensely feel the emotion between the two speakers. Rather than circuiting around the issue being addressed within this piece, the speakers state the obvious. The dialogue is an ingenious catalyst used by Frost to create a new style of poetry, which is a characteristic of Modernism. From start to finish, this piece is gripping, allowing the reader to become part of the poem. Frost throws the truth of the poem in the reader's face rather than alluding to the meaning of the poem.
The tone of this piece is melancholy. From the beginning the reader recognizes an intense disconnection between the husband and wife speakers. In the first stanza it states, "I will find out now-you must tell me, dear," (line 12). Here the husband is probing at his wife's emotions trying to get inside her head to help her with an obvious sadness the wife cannot overcome. In the first part of the statement the reader hears urgency in the husbands voice followed by a softer tone towards his wife. The hyphen used here helps the reader to separate the stern and endearing spots in the one sentence. It is here that the tension that images a roller coaster begins to form.
It is apparent that the wife has developed resentment towards her husband. She thinks, "Blind creature," (16). The reader has begun to enter the psyche of the wife. It is understood through this statement that the wife is withdrawn from her husband. She feels alone and depressed, forcing her husband away because he does not see her pain. Thus, further the tension boils as the husband tries to see his wife and what it is that makes her suffer.
In the second stanza, the husband for the first time sees the cause of his wife's anguish, which gives some relief to the tension of the poem.