Poetry is a creative way of writing that can reveal ones emotions. When one writes poetry it usually illustrates a mood, or causes an emotional response in a reader. In Dana Gioia's poem "Planting a Sequoia" an atmosphere is created through the use of language and more specifically words. The poem itself is about burying a person and through this a mood is produced.

Throughout the poem there are different approaches to how the atmosphere is made. When the poem has been read one feels a sense that this is a personal matter for Dana Gioia, therefore the person who is experiencing this day will be referred to as Gioia. The first stanza introduces us to a dreary task that has to be done in outside. Words like "rain", "blackened", and "cold" suggest that it's not very nice. The rain can be interpreted as tears that have shadowed...