In the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allan Poe creates a dark tone through the use of figurative language. References to death and devastation are used to portray the victim's agony. Poe utilizes metaphors, personification, and imagery to create an overall foreboding tone in the text. Poe uses the figurative language metaphor to add to the dark tone. The story states, "Blood was its avatar and its seal.” This quote uses a metaphor to compare blood to the red death as its symbol, or seal. Blood being associated with death and harm, conveys a foreboding tone. Poe also uses personification to add to the foreboding tone. In the text, Poe states,” there came from the brazen lungs of the clock.” In this quote, the clock is personified