Neutral Tones

“The sun was white, as though chidden of God”

1. “White” - sun is drained of warmth and colour - love drained from the relationship

2. “Chidden” - God has scolded the sun hints narrator sees everything in a negative way - bleak mood

“They had fallen from an ash and were grey”

1. Natural Imagery

2. Links to fire - relationship has burnt out

“The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing”

1. Oxymoron

2. Emphasises her complete lack of feeling towards him

“Like an ominous bird a-wing…”

1. Imagery

2. Bird flying away suggests the end of the relationship

3. Time has passed

“Keen lessons that love deceives”

1. Lessons have been painful

2. Pessimistic generalisation that all love is deceptive

“And a pond edged with greyish leaves”

1. Cyclical structure - memory still affects him

2. Leaves are rotting. Reflects how their love has decayed.

3. Repetition - “grey” from first stanza emphasis this