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Summary In-depth analysis notes of 'Neutral Tones' by Thomas Hardy
GCSE English Literature Poetry Anthology: Love & Relationships, 'Neutral Tones' by Thomas Hardy Annotation
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Metaphor - “Neutral” represents a lackRomantic Relationship of passion, a lifelessness and blankness. Neutral Tones
Metaphor - The “sun” to is
lifeless and drained of colour.
Verb - “stood” implies a
lack of movement which Setting - A scene of stillness & death Thomas Hardy
aids in introducing a in nature where nothing can grow
Contrasts to sun in ‘Eden Rock’ and the air is cold, suggesting the
being angelic, bright, godly. lifeless atmosphere. Double Meaning - “tones” links to
same feeling between the couple.
both colour & sound of the voice, in
that the landscape is bleached of
Alliteration - Emphasises the We stood by a pond that winter day, colour & words spoken between couple
suffering nature is undergoing, And the sun was white, as though chidden of God, suggest lack of passion & life.
much like the couple. Like the
couple, nature is motionless as And a few leaves lay on the starving sod;
nothing can grow. – They had fallen from an ash, and were grey. Personification - Creates a bleak
mood as the “sun” is sullen and
stripped back to a feeble force. This
Metaphor - Speaker is exhausted to be in Noun - Traditionally, “eyes” are Double Meaning & Metaphor - changes to “curst” by end of poem.
celebrating as being a positive “ash” links to both images of
this state of a relationship, arguing.
beautiful attribute about a lover trees but also the burnt-out weak Colour Imagery - “grey”
but here it is subverted to sun, projecting the struggling connects to the title of
Change of Focus - The speaker represent distain and boredom. relationship as there is a lack of ‘Neutral Tones’.
moves to address his lover directly. fire, heat or passion.
Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove
Metaphor - Suggests a manipulate set
Metaphor - “words” relate to the Over tedious riddles of years ago; of games, rather than playful. These
second meaning of “Tones” in title.
Here, it is the neural or lifeless And some words played between us to and fro ‘games’ however seems to have grown
boring and have ultimately been “lost”.
conversation between the On which lost the more by our love.
disinterested lovers.
Themes - Imagery of death portrayed in the lover’s Juxtaposition - “smile” & “grin” of Paradoxical Language - Perhaps suggesting that
“smile”. Again, usually blazon is used where a list bitterness show how their she made an active choice to be vindictive and
of compliments in a decent of the subject’s body relationship has deteriorated. let their relationship die.
but here the meaning is subverted.
Adjective - “ominous” suggests a The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing Themes & Ellipsis - Bird imagery used
perhaps conjures a sense of time flying
raven/crow which are traditionally Alive enough to have strength to die; away from them. This idea is emphasised
carrion birds prophesying death.
This also contributes to the natural And a grin of bitterness swept thereby with the ellipsis at the end too.
imagery and its link to death. Like an ominous bird a-wing….
Time Shift - Time moves forward Meaning - He has now lost all faith in love
Meaning - “keen”, itself, regardless of the fact that Change in Language - “chidden” becomes
where the speaker has had other in this context,
failed relationships and has been bitterness & hate have meant this “curst” showing how the bitterness has
means sharp. memory of the “Winter day” is distorted. grown over time and that he cannot
deeply hurt by them.
move on from that event. Similar lack of
development in ‘Walking Away’ with
Metaphor - “wrings” means to “knaws at my mind”.
violently squeeze or choke, perhaps Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,
projecting how the speaker felt in And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me Cyclical Structure - He returns to
that relationship, choked & trapped. natural imagery of the pond showing
Links to ‘Porphyria’s Lover’. Your face, and the God curst sun, and a tree, how his memory has worsened than
And a pond edged with grayish leaves. the original experience and every time
he recalls it, it is more negatively
Analysing Structure (A02) “shaped” by hurts in the present.
Focus & Movement
. Form
The poem is written from the Summary 1
Stanza One • a man addressing a past love point of view of The speaker describes a day walking
Lov er’ , the poe
Similar to ‘Porphyria’s lacy. In the •first
m last line of each stanza rhyme,r. The first and around a pond with his lover. The setting
fal reflecting how
starts with pathetic deathly winter’s the memory of a past experience in this poem reflects the death and ending
stanza, the setting is a is stripped• from affects the narrator in the pre returns to of the relationship.
colour
day, where life and ting the death of a indented final line of each stanzasent. The
slows the
the landscape, anticipa p later on•. Related pace of the poem by creating
a pause - hinting Summary 2
romantic relation shi at his sadness that the relation
ship failed. Their relationship is coming to an end and
•
Stanza Tw he believes she no longer finds him
Here the focus shifts awo & Thoree interesting. Now, whenever he is hurt in
onto the female subjecay from nature and
love, he remembers that day. The poem is
communication and cont - her lack of about both a specific memory and all the
speaker are clear. The tempt for the other loves the speaker has had since.
disdainful eyes, then mo focus is on her
mouth, her smile develo ves towards the
ping into a bitter grin. Context about Thomas Hardy (A03)
• Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was born in
Dorset.
Final Stanza r in ‘When
ds in time (simila Contrast and Repetition • ‘Neutral Tones’ was written in 1867 and
Shift forwar ’ & ‘Walking Away’) while • Repeated imagery of Death in nature published in 1898 as part of his ‘Wessex
We Two Parted s the speaker has not been Poems and Other Verses’ collection.
the reader realisee on from this moment. • Smile & Grin VS Bitterness & Death
able to mov • Repeated imagery of Suffering • Much of his work is regarded as
• Repeated imagery of Lifelessness pessimistic and bleak.
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