The tone of the poem is rather sober and depersonalized, creating a feeling of detachment and superficial admiration. Auden characterizes the citizen by stating that he “was not yellow or strange in his opinions” (Auden 10). This understatement, a passive statement, clearly indicates that it was completely normal for the unknown citizen to believe what the State believed to be best. However, by using such a euphemism and thereby creating hesitation, the audience is made aware that the state, which is the speaker of the poem, does not know much about the citizen, making the praise poem essentially worthless. Furthermore, the poem reduces what is considered sacred and passionate into numbers and statistics. The speaker mentions that “[he] was married and added five children to the population, which our eugenicist said was the right number for a parent of his generation” (Auden 29-31). The birth of a child, usually a celebrated and miraculous event, becomes simply part of an effort to accomplish what the government has deemed right. Additionally, although there is no clear rhyme pattern, several lines in the poem have rhymes. End rhymes with lines like “Was he free?” Was he happy? The question is absurd :/ If something were wrong, we should certainly have heard” create a fanciful atmosphere, suggesting that the poem should not be taken seriously (Auden 34-35). Additionally, the fact that the government or state in the poem speaks the last two lines is rather ironic because by the end of the poem it is clear that the unknown citizen would never have expressed his opinions in the first place, whether because of government control or fear of breaking compliance. The unknown citizen is considered a “saint,” which is both an exaggeration and a metaphor (Auden 5). It is revealed that although he was considered a saint, his