Thou Blind Man's Mark

     "Desiring naught but how to kill desire." Sir Philip Sydney describes the troubles that a blind man has by  using tone, diction, and shift to enhance his message.

     Blindness in a world of such beauty would be tragic to most, and would almost surely have a depressed tone. Sydney's diction emphasizes the fact that he is a depressed blind man by using phrases like "mangled mind" and "worthless ware".

     The poem starts off  with Sydney describing how desire has made his life miserable. We see a change in mood after several  reasons are given and he becomes more accepting to the idea. "But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought". In this line, the author begins to fuel acceptance for the condition and begins to start a new life.

     Sir Philip Sydney used an overall tone about desire by his use of a shift to separate two feelings and by his use of word choice in creating a better sense of how he feels.