Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy
Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy (1867)
Neutral Tones
BY THOMAS HARDY
We stood by a pond that winter day,
And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,
And a few leaves lay on the starving sod; – They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.
Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove
Over tedious riddles of years ago;
And some words played between us to and fro On which lost the more by our love.
The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing
Alive enough to have strength to die;
And a grin of bitterness swept thereby Like an ominous bird a-wing….
Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,
And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me
Your face, and the God curst sun, and a tree, And a pond edged with grayish leaves.
Here is how I would want you to do an analysis of this poem:
The poem Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy is one of his earlier poems that was included in the collection Wessex Poems and other Verses. The title of the collection immediately alerts the reader to the possibility that the landscape that appears in Neutral Tones will be that of countryside associated with Wessex. The title of the poem establishes the notion of impartiality and of musicality of poetic voice. However there is also the idea of colour in contained in the word tones. The title seems to play on the idea of an impartial and distanced poetic voice and of colour that lacks brightness. In my reading of this poem, I plan to explore the manner in which the poetic voice neutrally depicts the tragedy of love. I shall do this through a close examination of the use of language and its devices in order to show how the neutral shades of the title are reproduced within the poem.
In the first stanza the writer describes the landscape in winter. This season indicates loneliness and death. In scene is photographic, held in the stillness of time past caught in memory. Here he recalls how:
We stood by a pond that winter day,
Neutral Tones
BY THOMAS HARDY
We stood by a pond that winter day,
And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,
And a few leaves lay on the starving sod; – They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.
Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove
Over tedious riddles of years ago;
And some words played between us to and fro On which lost the more by our love.
The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing
Alive enough to have strength to die;
And a grin of bitterness swept thereby Like an ominous bird a-wing….
Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,
And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me
Your face, and the God curst sun, and a tree, And a pond edged with grayish leaves.
Here is how I would want you to do an analysis of this poem:
The poem Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy is one of his earlier poems that was included in the collection Wessex Poems and other Verses. The title of the collection immediately alerts the reader to the possibility that the landscape that appears in Neutral Tones will be that of countryside associated with Wessex. The title of the poem establishes the notion of impartiality and of musicality of poetic voice. However there is also the idea of colour in contained in the word tones. The title seems to play on the idea of an impartial and distanced poetic voice and of colour that lacks brightness. In my reading of this poem, I plan to explore the manner in which the poetic voice neutrally depicts the tragedy of love. I shall do this through a close examination of the use of language and its devices in order to show how the neutral shades of the title are reproduced within the poem.
In the first stanza the writer describes the landscape in winter. This season indicates loneliness and death. In scene is photographic, held in the stillness of time past caught in memory. Here he recalls how:
We stood by a pond that winter day,