Neutral Tones

Question 1

description of the poem

Answer 1

the narrator remembers a day when he and his lover stood by a pond. Its an unpleasent memory– its clear that their relationship was failing and about to come to an end.
he describes his lovers behaviour– he seems to believe that she found him boring and had fallen out of love with him
whenevr hes been hurt by love since he rememebr the day by the pond

Question 2

form

Answer 2

the first and last lines of each stanza rhyme– this refelcts how the memory of a past experience returns to affect the narrator in the present.

Question 3

structure

Answer 3

the first three stancas centre aorund a specific memory
the poem ends where it began, with the image of the pond
cyclical structure represents how he’s been repeatedlt hurt by love since that day at the pond and all of these experiences remind him of that day.

Question 4

language about suffering

Answer 4

“and a few leaves lay on the starving sod”
Alliteration and personification empathise this impression of suffering, like a lifeless ground reflects their dying relationship
although the neiurtal tone of the poem is never broken’ its clear that the narrator is feeling strong emotions about that day at the pond
language associated with pain, death and punishment

Question 5

language about lifenessnes

Answer 5

“alive enough to have a strength to die”
the death of their relationship and his lack of hope are reflected in the landscape- its bleak, deacying and cold
She chose to let her smile die , maybe she chose to let their love die too.

Question 6

pessimism

Answer 6

the bleak mood and colourless setting show that there’s a lack of hope everywhere, even in nature