Ryan's Tone

Tone = the emotional stance of the speaker of the poem toward a particular speaker or object.

One consequence of Ryan's terseness is that the tone becomes distant--the author/speaker does not seem emotionally involved. Ryan seldom uses first person, but often uses second person or the third person "we." I think that makes some of the poems seem accusatory, even, like this excerpt from the poem "Elephant Rocks":

The dirt
rubs away from a treasure
too patient and deep to be lost,
however we've hurt, whatever
we've done to the beasts,
whatever we say.

Using "you" or "we" draws the reader into the poem, but at the same time, it distances the speaker (especially with "you") since none of the events directly involve the speaker. Ryan frequently takes on a didactic tone, which is aided by the direct address. At times, it seems like the speaker does not reveal enough other events/thoughts to make the reader feel that the didactic tone is appropriate.

Insult

Insult is injury
taken personally,
saying, This is not
a random fracture
that would have happened
to any leg out there;
this was a conscious unkindess.
We need insult to remind us
that we aren't always just hurt,
that there are some sources--
even in the self, parts of which
tread on other parts with such boldness
that we must say, You must stop this.

I know that Prof. White said in class one day that the direct address is very difficult to pull off, and I don't know that Ryan is always successful. "Insult" comes across as rather antogonistic, especially because it is abstract: Ryan provides no concrete situation that supports her diatribe against insult. Not only does this remove the speaker from the reader, but it also makes the direct address even more prominant.