Neutral Tones

Question 1

What is the poem about? Context and Theme

Answer 1

Hardy is reminiscing about his wife Emma and how their relationship went downhill. Themes of loss and grief, emptiness. Still visual image. Sees Emma in comparison with nature

Question 2

Quotes to use in first stanza

Answer 2

“we” “pond” “that winter day” “sun was white” “starving sod” “ash “gray”

Question 3

“we”

Answer 3

first word in poem, suggests togetherness. together at the start of poem and then how they fall apart.

Question 4

“pond”

Answer 4

first line contrasts with last line of poem, structural point, shows how the whole poem is really about one image of her standing at a pond

Question 5

“that winter day”

Answer 5

“that” - past, looking back, as if he is telling a story “winter day” - frozen, cold, still

Question 6

“sun was white”

Answer 6

empty, blinding, more like a harsh light then a nice sunny day, emphasis on neutral colours

Question 7

“starving sod”

Answer 7

“starving” - language of death “sod” means soil, so the starving sod is not allowing anything to grow

Question 8

“ash”

Answer 8

literal meaning in poem is relating to an ash tree but also has a double meaning. “ash” - more language of death and burning, like something that was there is now gone forever.

Question 9

“gray”

Answer 9

last line in poem, isolated and emphasised, neutral colour again, sets mood for poem as dark, empty and washed out

Question 10

General point about God in the first stanza?

Answer 10

There is the presence of god eg “chidden by god” but it is a more bitter image, as if he has gone: “fallen”, “ash”

Question 11

Quotes to use in second stanza

Answer 11

“rove” “riddles” “words played” “to and fro”

Question 12

“rove”

Answer 12

her eyes are moving about, changing direction. metaphorically in the sense that they are drifting and literally in how she stops looking at him

Question 13

“riddles”

Answer 13

the puzzle of love

Question 14

“words played”

Answer 14

links to riddle. like love is a game. the words “playing” makes them seem like they mean less as the words are just moving between them but not having any effect, like a forced conversation with rules.

Question 15

“to and fro”

Answer 15

backwards and forwards movement. again like the words are just moving between them. the hope is dissipating, lack of connection between them and there is no resolution

Question 16

Quotes to use in third stanza

Answer 16

“smile on your mouth was the deadest thing” “alive enough to have strength to die” “grin of bitterness” “ominous”

Question 17

“smile on your mouth was the deadest thing”

Answer 17

saying that the smile was “on” her mouth makes it seem like its put there, forced and fake smile. rise and fall of line smile at start of line to death at end of line. strange, dark description. by calling it “the deadest thing” it shows how lifeless and meaningless her smile is.

Question 18

“alive enough to have the strength to die”

Answer 18

juxtaposition between life and death. rise and fall of line life to death

Question 19

“grin of bitterness”

Answer 19

contrast between “grin” which is an expression of joy or laughter with feeling of “bitterness”. makes the grin seem quite evil, links to dead smile. starts to imply that their relationship might not only be just dying and fading away but that there could also be sour feelings

Question 20

“ominous”

Answer 20

all-knowing like they know the relationship is failing but are not willing to face it

Question 21

Quotes to use in fourth stanza

Answer 21

“lessons that love deceives” “wrings with wrong” “your face” “God-curst sun” “pond” “grayish leaves”

Question 22

“lessons that love deceives”

Answer 22

since the moments in the past that he has been talking about for the past three stanzas, he has learned lessons from what happened and young love. not a resolution of their relationship but a personal resolution and conclusion about love.

Question 23

“wrings with wrong”

Answer 23

alliteration emphasises “wrong” and how he has learnt from the wrongs of his relationship.

Question 24

“your face”

Answer 24

start of line with comma at end, emphasis, strong image. it is in the same image as the sun, tree, pond and leaves. describing her within the nature

Question 25

“God-curst sun”

Answer 25

links back to image of white blinding sun, negative images of sun “curst”. again another negative, bitter image of God. like Hardy is blaming him. “curst” contrasts with two words either side of it: “God” and “sun”

Question 26

“pond”

Answer 26

links to image at start of poem. having “pond” at start and end of poem is like the reflection in the pond water.

Question 27

“grayish leaves”

Answer 27

“grayish” uncertain colour, not definite, represents the fate of their relationship

Question 28

Structural point

Answer 28

Rise and fall within the lines esp. in stanza 3, suggests hope and then it failing.