neutral tones-thomas hardy Flashcards
what is the poem about
narrator remembers day him and his lover stood by a pond- it is a unpleasant memory showing there relationship was failing and coming to an end
form
- point of view; man addressing a past lover
- first and last lines of each stanza rhyme- this reflects how the memory of a past experience returns to affect the narrator in the present
- indented final lines of each stanza slows the pace of the poem by creating a pause - this hints at his sadness that the relationship has failed
‘your eyes on me were eyes that rove over’
‘rove over’ enjambment mimics how her eyes mover over his face. ‘Rove’ and ‘over’ look and sound the similar which reflects the boredom she feels.
in love poems eyes are traditionally shown as positive features but here they are shown negatively
structure
- first 3 stanzas centre around specific memory(past), last stanza narrator reflects love in general (present)
- poem ends where it begins, with image of pond- cynical structure represents how he’s been repeatedly hurt by love since that day, and how many experiences remind him of that day
‘like an ominous bird a-wing …’
- ellipsis represents the time the relationship came to and end, in the time that passes between stanza 3 and 4
- imagery of bird suggests the end of there relationship or alternatively being of freedom
‘And wrings with wrong, have shaped me…’
other experiences of deceitful love remind him of this incident by the pond- perhaps if it was the first time to experience it
‘…your face’
Enjambment cant get over her
‘And a pond’
poem begins and ends by a pond- this shows how the memory of that day still effects him, suggests nothing has changed for him
language about suffering
- although the ‘rural’ tones of the poem is never broken its clear that the narrator feels strong emotions about that day
- uses language associated with pain, death and punishment which connotes he’s hurt by what happened
‘as though chidden of God’
images that god has scolded the sun. adds to bleak mood of poem, hints that the narrator see everything in a negative way
‘lives lay on the starving sod;’
alliteration, personification and sibilance emphasis this impression of suffering - the lifeless ground reflects their dying relationship
‘since then keen lessons’
keen denotes sharp or strong- these lessons have been painful
‘wrings with wrong’
alliteration emphasise pain and anguish
‘God- curst sun’
‘t’ phoneme in ‘curst’ is harder than ‘chidden’ in stanza 1 hints narrator has become more bitter over time
language about lifelessness
the ‘nutral’ tone shows the lack of love between the two people, and the pessimistic way the narrator feels about love in general. The death of their relationship and his lack of hope are reflected in the landscape.
