The poem "In Time of Plague" by Thom Gunn emmulates a disticnt tone of moral discomfort and questioning.
Assuming this is a narritive poem in the voice of the author, Thom, he is conflicted between his feelign among two men in a bar. The setting provides Thom with an umbrella which a couple of tones could fall into.
The confusion he feels when he is "attracted" to the men creates an feeling of forbidden thoughts of the "fiercely attractive men" thought by another man, given the context of the poem was written in 1992 where gay men were not exactly welcome. The author questions their actions, yet admires their "daring looks, their jargon". he is torn between the right thing and his emotions, which he holds back due to the forbidden-ness (I know that is not a word) of their requests and actions.
The theme of acceptance influences his tone, as he "seeks to enter thir minds". his tone shifts to a little vulnerability, as he asks himself "am I a fool" in a rehtorical question. His tone shifts between going with the attractive men and his morals, as the tone takes another shift into a controling narrative. He goes to reason that "or are they the fools" and goes to describe the one attractive men as "death's heads lighted glamorously".
"In Time of Plague" follows Thom's stream of concious in a bar, which shifts tones as his mood changes at the upcomming circumstances, which makes the reader follow the fluidity of the poem more thoroughly.
