Neutral Tones – Thomas Hardy:

Question 1

Context:

Answer 1

His work is often considered pessimistic and bleak.

Question 2

Summary:

Answer 2

He describes how his relationship failed and his lover’s behaviour as she fell out of love with him. Whenever he’s been hurt by love since, he remembers that day by the pond.

Question 3

Form:

Answer 3

The first and last line of each stanza rhyme – showing how the memory of a past experience still haunts him. The indented/jerky final line of each stanza slows the pace of the poem by creating a pause – hints at sadness that the relationship failed. The uncertainty of it also suggests there are awkward, resolved feelings left. The rhyme scheme being ABBA separates the ‘A’ mirroring the separation and also that the memory resurfaces.

Question 4

Structure:

Answer 4

The first three stanzas centre around a specific memory, and then there’s a time jump to the final stanza where the narrator reflects on love in general. There is a cyclical structure – reflecting repeated hurt.

Question 5

Language about suffering:

Answer 5

The ‘neutral’ tone is never broken, but strong emotions are conveyed as he uses language associated with pain, death and punishment.

Question 6

Language about lifelessness:

Answer 6

he neutral tone shows the lack of love between the narrator and his lover, and the new pessimistic way he feels about love in general. The death of their relationship and lack of hope is mirrored by the landscape – it’s bleak, decaying and cold.

Question 7

Themes:

Answer 7

itterness – He resents the lack of real emotion behind his lover’s smile and the way she seemed bored of him.

Pessimism – Other negative experiences of love have confirmed his view of love. The bleak and colourless setting show there is a lack of hop everywhere, even in nature.

Question 8

Compare to:

Answer 8

Winter Swans, Eden Rock, Farmer’s Bride, When We Two Parted, Mother Any Distance and Walking Away.