Neutral Tones Flashcards
Who made neutral tones
Thomas hardly
What is the main subject of the poem discussed?
A maid named Eliza Nichols and her relationship
The poem explores themes of love and relationships.
What do the colors in the poem symbolize?
Passion and emotion
The use of color is significant in conveying the depth of feelings.
What literary device is used with the phrase ‘your eyes on me were as eyes that rove’?
Metaphor
It represents being starved of love.
What does the phrase ‘the smile on your mouth was the deadest thing’ imply?
Falseness of emotion
It suggests a lack of genuine warmth or affection.
What does the imagery of nature in the poem convey?
Melancholy and depression
Nature reflects the emotional state of the speaker.
What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
ABBA
This structure contributes to the poem’s overall tone and flow.
Who is the poet of the work discussed?
Thomas Hardy
He lived from 1840 to 1928 and published the poem in 1898.
Fill in the blank: The poem reflects on a moment in _______.
Present tense
This choice of tense emphasizes the immediacy of the emotions.
What is the effect of using ‘greyish leaves’ in the poem?
Conveys a sense of decay and sadness
The imagery enhances the poem’s themes of loss and sorrow.
True or False: The poem uses archaic language.
True
Words like ‘chidden’ indicate an older style of writing.
What does the term ‘God-curst sun’ suggest?
A negative perception of nature
It reflects the speaker’s emotional turmoil.
What do the ‘tedious riddles of years ago’ refer to?
Past misunderstandings in the relationship
This highlights the complexity and difficulties faced.
Fill in the blank: The poem compares the relationship to _______.
Nature
Nature serves as a backdrop for exploring emotional themes.
What does the phrase ‘The sun is drained of warmth and colour’ symbolize in the poem?
It reflects how the love has drained from their relationship
This imagery creates a lifeless atmosphere and indicates emotional coldness.
How does weather reflect the characters’ feelings in the poem?
It symbolizes their emotional coldness towards each other
What literary device is used to emphasize how the leaves are still and unmoving?
Alliteration
In love poems, what are eyes traditionally seen as?
A positive feature
How are eyes portrayed in this poem?
Negatively
What does enjambment mimic in the poem?
How her eyes move over his face
The words ‘rove’ and ‘Over’ are used to reflect what feeling?
Boredom
What does the phrase ‘The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing’ exemplify?
Oxymoron
What does the imagery of a bird flying away suggest?
The end of the relationship
What does the term ‘keen’ mean in the context of the poem?
Sharp or strong
What has shaped the narrator’s perception of love according to the poem?
Keen lessons that love deceives and wrings with wrong
What effect does alliteration have at the beginning and end of the poem?
It emphasizes the narrator’s pain and anguish
What does the harsher sound of ‘curst’ compared to ‘chidden’ hint at?
The narrator has become more bitter over time
What does the narrator imagine about God in relation to the sun?
That God has scolded the sun
What do the leaves from an ash tree symbolize in the poem?
The decayed relationship
What does game imagery in the poem suggest about love?
Love should be fun and playful
What does ellipsis represent in the poem?
The time when the relationship came to an end
What pessimistic generalization does the narrator make about love?
All love is deceptive
What does the color grey symbolize in relation to the leaves?
The decay of their love
Define ‘chidden’ as used in the poem.
Scolded
What does ‘sod’ refer to in the poem?
Grass-covered earth
What does ‘rove’ mean?
Wander
What does ‘thereby’ signify in the poem?
By
What does ‘a-wing’ mean?
Flying
What does ‘wrings’ mean in the context of the poem?
Squeezes or twists forcefully
Define ‘curst’ as it appears in the poem.
Cursed
What does ‘Neutral Tones’ refer to?
Colours such as black, white, and grey.
What does ‘neutral’ imply in the context of the poem?
Ambivalence.
What is the focus of the poem ‘Neutral Tones’?
Disappointment with an attempt at detachment and cool contemplation.
True or False: The poem ‘Neutral Tones’ expresses a lack of bias.
False.
What is the main theme of Thomas Hardy’s poem ‘Neutral Tones’?
The theme revolves around the bitterness and pessimism associated with failing love.
What significant event does the narrator remember in ‘Neutral Tones’?
A day when he and his lover stood by a pond, reflecting on their failing relationship.
How does the narrator perceive his lover’s feelings towards him?
He believes she found him boring and had fallen out of love with him.
What literary form is used in ‘Neutral Tones’?
The poem is written from the point of view of a man addressing a past lover.
How does the structure of ‘Neutral Tones’ contribute to its meaning?
It starts with specific memories, then shifts to a general reflection on love, ending with the same pond image.
What effect does the indented final line of each stanza have?
It slows the pace of the poem, hinting at the narrator’s sadness about the failed relationship.
What type of language does the narrator use to express his feelings?
He uses language associated with pain, death, and punishment.
What does the ‘neutral’ tone in the poem signify?
It indicates a lack of love and reflects the narrator’s pessimistic view of love.
What emotions does the narrator feel towards his lover’s smile?
Bitterness and resentment about the lack of genuine emotion.
How does the setting in ‘Neutral Tones’ reflect the narrator’s feelings?
The bleak, decaying, and cold landscape mirrors his lack of hope and the death of the relationship.
Fill in the blank: The cyclical structure of ‘Neutral Tones’ represents how the narrator has been repeatedly hurt by _______.
love
What key themes are present in ‘Neutral Tones’?
- Death
- Nature
- Memory
True or False: The poem ‘Neutral Tones’ conveys a positive view of love.
False
How does the poem relate to other works like ‘Winter Swans’ and ‘The Farmer’s Bride’?
‘Winter Swans’ and ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ also use imagery of nature to reflect troubled relationships.
What is the significance of memory in the poem?
It serves as a reminder of the pain associated with the past relationship.
What does the title ‘Neutral Tones’ refer to?
It reflects the lack of emotion and the bleakness of the narrator’s experiences in love.
What does the past tense in the poem signal?
Memory of the precise moment they both stood by the pond
What literary device is used to convey bleakness in the scene?
Pathetic fallacy
What connotations does ‘starving sod’ evoke?
Nature dying
What imagery is presented regarding the landscape?
Drained of colour and barren
How is the sun described in the poem?
White, as though chidden of God
What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
ABBA
How does the final line of each stanza differ from the first three lines?
It has just three feet that hit hard on bleak
What does the imagery of ‘gray’ leaves suggest?
Accentuates that love is missing
What do the fallen leaves symbolize?
Disappointment and confusion
What is implied by the terms ‘rove’ and ‘tedious riddles’?
The companion is not interested in the speaker
Which famous line from Tennyson’s elegy is referenced?
‘Better to have loved and lost/Than never to have loved at all’
How does Hardy’s tone differ from Tennyson’s?
Concentrating on melancholy and emptiness
What does the phrase ‘powerless ruler’ imply about the speaker?
A sense of loss and lack of control
Fill in the blank: The poem’s landscape imagery suggests a _______.
[cursed soil]
True or False: The final line of each stanza follows the same regular rhythm as the first three lines.
False
What literary device is present in stanza 3 that relates to death imagery?
Oxymoronic imagery
The juxtaposition of contradictory terms enhances the emotional impact.
What does the term ‘deadest’ signify in the context of the poem?
‘Deadest’ heightens how hurt the speaker is
It conveys deep emotional pain and the end of a relationship.
What do lips symbolize in the poem?
Passion
The speaker’s ‘smiles and grin of bitterness’ evoke feelings of judgment.
What does the word ‘ominous’ indicate in the poem?
Something bad is about to happen
It foreshadows negative events in the speaker’s relationship.
Complete the line: ‘The smile on your mouth was the _______ thing.’
‘deadest’
This line conveys a sense of lifelessness and emotional detachment.
What does the phrase ‘grin of bitterness’ suggest?
A mix of sorrow and cynicism
It reflects the speaker’s complex emotions regarding the relationship.
What does the assonance of ‘ee’ in the lines convey?
The heart of bitterness
It emphasizes the painful lessons learned from love.
What does the alliteration of ‘wrings’ and ‘wrongs’ signify?
Deceit and pain in love
It highlights the emotional turmoil experienced by the speaker.
What does ‘Wring sounds like ‘ring’ imply?
A connection to lasting memories
It suggests that the pain of the relationship is cyclical.
What does the final imagery of the last stanza evoke?
Traumatic memory
It haunts the reader and reflects the speaker’s struggle with the past.
What does the use of polysyndeton in the poem do?
Draws attention to uncomfortable familiarity
It emphasizes the repetitive nature of the speaker’s thoughts.
How does Hardy use sound, structure, and language in the poem?
To show the speaker’s disenfranchisement over a past moment
It illustrates the emotional weight and complexity of the experience.
What theme is highlighted by the speaker’s attempt to move on?
Crippled by memories
The speaker struggles against the cycle of painful recollections.
