Neutral Tones analysis

that winter day

winter is the season of death

the sun was white, as though chidden of God

personification

being told off

he hates the sun’s warmth because he is sad about relationship

God forsaken, because God’s warmth and light have completely gone

when written

1867

when published

1898

neutral tones

impliesan absence of colour

the sun was white

as if it is faded

rhyme scheme?

ABBA, infinite hatred and sorrow

your eyes on me were as eyes that rove

rove is a verb, lexical choice

eyes look aimlessly, there is no love left

Over tedious riddles of years ago

conveys dissatisfaction in the relatonship

rove and love

1st and 4th line in second stanza.

imperfect rhyme mirrors the emotional distance

grin of bitterness

juxtaposition, relationship has gone wrong, uncomfortable sense

deadest

superlative

emphasis on lack of life of the person

and a pond edged with grayish leaves

cyclical structure conveys doomed relationship, no chance of resolution

rhyme scheme

ABBA

context

reflects breakdown of poet’s marriage to Emma Guilford in 1874, she retreated from house and spent time in the attic rooms alone until her death

problematic treatment of women

cynicism?

this tone reflects unhappy and tragic themes of his novels