neutral tones

NEUTRAL TONES - THOMAS HARDY

Brief Summary

  • The speaker recounts meeting a former lover at the side of a pond during winter.

  • The atmosphere is described as cold and deathlike, suggesting the absence of love between them.

Synopsis

  • Setting: The speaker and the former lover are standing by a pond in winter.

  • Relationship Breakdown: The speaker recalls the deterioration of their relationship.

  • Lack of Love: The poem portrays the absence of affection anymore.

  • Nature's Reflection: Nature is described in a way that echoes themes of death and emptiness.

Context

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

  • Hardy's personal life was marked by insecurity, depression, and sensitivity, largely due to two unhappy marriages.

  • This psychological state is reflected in the bleak tone of "Neutral Tones".

  • It's ambiguous whether the poem addresses a specific historical event or expresses generalized feelings toward relationships and women.

  • This poem is one of his last before he withdrew from poetry.

  • The dismal tone captured in the poem parallels the characters in his novels, who often encounter severe challenges.

Literary Devices and Techniques

Pathetic Fallacy

  • Hardy employs the concept of pathetic fallacy by referencing winter, establishing a mood of sadness and coldness from the outset.

Language and Imagery

  • Sibilance: The phrase "starving sod" conveys a sense of despair and hopelessness.

  • Monochromatic Colours: The use of dull colours evokes a one-sided and dreary relationship.

  • Temporal Deixis: The phrase "years ago" signifies the passage of time and the loss of love experienced.

  • Enjambment: Lines such as 'rove // Over' reflect the physical action and texture of the couple’s relationship, indicating an honesty in his reflection.

  • Alliteration: The repeated sounds in "lost" and "love" emphasize the lack of emotional connection.

Textual Analysis

  • Opening Lines:

    • "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 grey."

    • The colors and imagery highlight the lifelessness between the characters.

  • Symbolism of Eyes:

    • The eyes symbolize a window to the soul; however, the past tense "were" implies a deep disconnection and absence of understanding.

  • Personification of Words:

    • The speaker personifies words to communicate the void of meaningful conversation in their relationship.

  • Juxtaposition of Life and Death:

    • There is a notable contrast between the living (such as sincere emotions) and death (the recognition of their failing relationship), highlighting the pain love can cause.

  • Bitterness as Emotion:

    • Bitterness is personified, suggesting nature is against their relationship, implying the speaker’s self-justification for their separation.

  • Repetition and Difficulty in Expression:

    • Repetition of the sound "w" in "wrings with wrong" illustrates the struggle of articulating intense feelings, reflecting back to the idea of being "chidden of God" as a thematic cyclical element in the poem.

Tone and Sentiment

  • The poem concludes on a melancholic note, encapsulating themes of failed relationships and lasting sorrow.

Perspective

  • First-Person Narrative:

    • The poem is written from the first-person perspective; thus, the reader only experiences the speaker’s views and feelings on the relationship.

  • Overwhelming Sadness:

    • The speaker is portrayed as feeling more grief over the relationship’s end than the former lover, underscoring an imbalance of emotional investment.

Opening Analysis

  • Winter Imagery:

    • The opening line establishes winter's gloom, which pervades the poem.

  • Gloomy Atmosphere:

  • The imagery sets a tone that persists throughout the poem.

Structure/Form

  • Stanza Analysis:

    • The first stanza exhibits Romantic influences with a strong focus on nature.

    • The second stanza hints at the speaker’s feelings of wasted time and resentment toward the relationship.

    • The third stanza reflects continued bitterness, while the fourth returns to nature imagery.

  • Cyclical Nature:

    • The cyclical repetition of setting by the pond signifies stagnation in their relationship, reflecting ongoing emotional pain despite the passage of years.

  • Rhyme Scheme:

    • The ABBA rhyme scheme suggests that the speaker finds comfort in regularity amid turbulent emotions.

  • Rhythm:

    • The quatrains are composed in tetrameter, resulting in a faster pace than standard iambic tetrameter, contrasting with the stagnant tone of the poem.

    • Enjambment speeds up pace while caesura slows it down, creating a claustrophobic feeling.

Language

Metaphors and Imagery

  • Sparse Use of Metaphor:

    • The poem's minimal metaphorical language depicts the stark reality of a failed relationship.

    • Example: The lover's smile is described as “Alive enough to have strength to die” — this hyperbolic metaphor exaggerates animosity between characters.

    • Trivial Nature of Words: The characterization of their words as "played" suggests that their communication was superficial.

Death Imagery

  • Frequent Death References:

    • Utilizes death imagery to maintain an ominous mood.

    • The smile described as “the deadest thing” flips the positive meaning of a smile, revealing a torturous relationship.

Pathetic Fallacy

  • Environment Reflects Emotion:

    • Hardy's environmental descriptions emphasize the speaker's despair, introducing a “winter day” with a lack of light or colour while enhancing the disparaging atmosphere.

Negativity in Language

  • Negative Lens:

    • The oxymoron “grin of bitterness” signifies a perspective dominated by sorrow and negativity.

    • Colour Imagery:

    • Dull imagery: “greyish” and “the sun was white” signifies apathy and the absence of warmth in their relationship.

Religious Implications

  • Suffering and Punishment:

    • The phrase “chidden by God” implies divine rebuke.

    • The “God-curst sun” reinforces this sinister interpretation of divinity's relationship to their suffering.

Comparisons

To "When We Two Parted"

Similarities

  • Both speakers indulge in morbid imagery to express their sadness:

    • Byron's auditory imagery in “A knell to mine ear” resonates with Hardy's “The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing”.

    • The shared usage of sibilance creates a similar emotional resonance.

Differences

  • In "Neutral Tones", the negativity of the surroundings indicates the speaker's sorrow, contrasting with Byron's interior reflection in "In silence I grieve".

To "Eden Rock"

Similarities

  • Light imagery in both poems evokes religious connections.

    • Hardy’s “white” sun is paralleled with Causley’s ethereal simile in “The sky whitens as if lit by three suns”.

Differences

  • In “Eden Rock,” the heavenly connotations are more positively cast while Hardy’s imagery creates a cold, unforgiving atmosphere.

To “Winter Swans”

Similarities

  • Both poets’ usage of colour imagery underscores the absence of warmth in relationships.

    • Hardy's “pond edged with greyish leaves” and Sheers’ “dark water” are congruent in thematic expression.

Differences

  • Hardy explicitly conveys death with the metaphor “the deadest thing”, while Sheers leaves an ambiguous portrayal of life in relationships with “'They mate for life' you said.”