neutral tones

Question 1

Themes

Answer 1

Loss, Longing, Heartbreak

Question 2

Tones

Answer 2

Neutral, Pessimistic, Melancholic

Question 3

Context

Answer 3

-Thomas Hardy was a British poet known for his
pessimistic and dreary poems.
-Neutral tones, written in 1867, is no exception.
-His pessimism may be linked to his unhappy first
marriage, or perhaps his discontent with 19
th Century
industrialisation and the loss of traditional country
ways which he held so dear (he was from Dorset).

Question 4

Content, Meaning and Purpose

Answer 4

-The narrator recalls the day when he realised that a
relationship had ended, and had to face the inevitable.
-He and his lover were stood by a pond. He describes
how her eyes and smile revealed her feelings: he
believes that she had become bored and fallen out of
love with him.
-The final stanza is in the present, and conveys how he
still thinks about that fateful day, and how he has lost
faith in love.

Question 5

Language

Answer 5

-“We stood by a pond that winter day”: standing still
and the cold set the tone of their relationship.
-“tedious riddles” “played” “lost”: imagery of love as a
game – a game that he lost.
-“Like an ominous bird a-wing…”: bird represents the
relationship flying away; ellipsis conveys passage of
time leading to the current day in fourth stanza.
-“love deceives, And wrings with wrong”: he doesn’t
trust love as it has caused him so much ‘wrong’.
-“God-curst sun”: the plosive ‘t’ sound creates a harsh
and bitter tone.

Question 6

Form and Structure

Answer 6

-The first three stanzas recall the day by the pond,
whilst the final stanza jumps forward in time to show
that the memory is still foremost in his mind – and has
tainted his view of love.
-The final line of each stanza is indented. This creates a
pause which slows the pace and reflects his sadness.
-The poem ends with imagery of the pond and
surrounding leaves (as seen in the first stanza). Circular
structure confirms the lingering, and inescapable, pain.