GCSE (9-1): Literature: Poetry: AQA Love and Relationships: Neutral Tones: Theme

main focus of 'Neutral Tones'

Neutral tones is about a love that has turned cold

typical themes in Hardy's poetry

Many of Hardy's themes focus on dark, tragic subjects; he even wrote a poem about the sinking of the Titanic; his poetry has sometimes been described as melancholy

summary of 'Neutral Tones'

An estranged couple meet beside a pond on a winter's day; the scene is drained of life and colour, just like their relationship; fallen leaves lie on the ground and the woman's bitter expression implies that she no longer feels any love for the narrator

universal theme of failed love

Many of us know the dreadful feeling of a loving relationship that goes cold

who Thomas Hardy was writing about in this poem

It would be easy to assume that this poem was written about Emma but he wrote it in 1867 and he did not meet her until 1870; it's likely that his experiences with other failed relationships influenced this poem in some way

the changing nature of human relationships

The poem makes a connection between nature and human emotions; in nature, nothing stays the same; seasons change and leaves fall. This is the same with relationships; they can be vibrant and full of life as the summer; they can also fade and die like trees in winter

loss/death of love

- They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.' - Something that was once beautiful has been lost; the sense of loss is a key theme in the poem

shared themes between 'Neutral Tones' and 'Sonnet 29 — I think of thee!' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

rebellion and nature

shared themes between 'Neutral Tones' and 'The Farmer's Bride' by Charlotte Mew

loss of romantic love, distance and nature

shared themes between 'Neutral Tones' and 'Before You Were Miner' by Carol Ann Duffy

memory

shared themes between 'Neutral Tones' and 'Eden Rock' by Charles Causley

death

shared themes between 'Neutral Tones' and 'Walking Away' by C. D. Lewis

memory and distance

shared themes between 'Neutral Tones' and 'Letters From Yorkshire' by Maura Dooley

nature and distance

shared themes between 'Neutral Tones' and 'Winter Swans' by Owen Sheers

distance

shared themes between 'Neutral Tones' and 'When We Two Parted' by Lord Byron

loss of romantic love, distance, death and memory