Neutral Tones Flashcards
What atmosphere does this poem create and through what words or phrases?
A gloomy and depressing atmosphere through the words “winter, sun was white, leaves, ash, grey, starving sod”
Stanzas overall summary
stanza 1: sets the scene
stanza 2: their lack of feeling towards each other
stanza 3: describing the girl
The first 3 stanzas is a memory.
stanza 4: moves from past to present and talks about lessons learned
“We stood by a pond that winter day,”
-“stood” is boring and static.
-“winter” symbolism suggests things coming to an end, a desolate and empty, cold landscape.
“And the sun was white, as though chidden of God.”
-simile
-suggest God has taken all the colour out of the sun, they have tried to build a connection. Being told off by God.
“And a few leaves lay on the starving sod.”
-alliteration
-used to make a point stand out to create an image in the reader’s mind.
“Over tedious riddles of years ago.”
She is looking at him as if he is a problem to solve and he is a ‘riddle’ she can’t solve
-shows the frustrations of their relationships. Tedious suggests dull whereas riddles are fun.
“the smile of your mouth was the deadest thing.”
-juxtaposititon of smile and deadest suggests she has enough energy to put a smile on her face until it fades away.
“grin of bitterness swept thereby like an ominous bird bird a-wing.”
-simile
-juxtaposition
-The simile suggests a threatening smile. It makes the reader feel threatened.
-The juxtaposition suggests her genuine smile fades away and replaces it with a smile of anger or bitterness towards him
“wrings with wrong”
emphasises his anguish
“And a pond edged with greyish leaves.”
The poem ends with a cold, desolate landscape and ends with the same.- cyclical structure which symbolises his view on love which is a negative cycle.
The poem contains a lot of opposition, what does this symbolise?
Perhaps to symbolise his view on love as cold, hurting and sadness whereas we associate love as happy and joyful.
what does the title suggest?
The title ‘neutral’ suggests something without warmth, cold and emotionless. It is the opposite of
colourful.
What can this poem be compared to?
-Winter swans
-When we two parted
-farmer’s bride
