"The Lost Heritage" is a free-verse poem by Heather Buck, which illustrates the heritages being forgotten or "lost" in the modern world. The tone of this dramatic monologue is depicted right from the start in the title, "The Lost Heritage." A lost of something so great brings in a sad tone to the poem. Through the use of theme and imagery, the narrator sets the tone of this poem.
             The most important element that contributes o the poem's tone is the theme. The character of the poem had just realized that the children of the present are unintentionally deprived of the knowledge of the intricate, colorful past, thus losing heritage. These children will grow up and their children will also be deprived of the same thing. The children of the children will also have children who will also be deprived, and so on. It is a cycle that keeps on turning, and at each turn, the world loses one more piece of heritage. Losing heritage is losing a part of history, tradition and culture. This takes us to a greater degree of sadness. It is tragedy. It is tragic that the children are not inheriting the beauty of nature as they done in the past. Instead, they are inheriting modern anxiety, stress and ignorance from the "strangle of branches" and the "tongues" that "unload fear at their feet."
             Another important literary device that Buck uses to have reader emotionally attached to the poem is imagery. Not only does she touches the reader's five usual senses, she also uses her words to capture and bring out the emotions of the reader. The "whispers and laughter of serving-maids braiding their hair" has me wanting to go join the group and whisper and laugh with them. This part of the poem, where the narrator's thoughts are in the past, is very contrasting to the present, where "the young child is lost in a forest of towering adults." The vivid past make the modern day more sinister. This brings a sense of sorrow to the tone beca
             ...