Pain/suffering In Relationships- Walking Away And Neutral Tones.(same For Partings) Flashcards
Ts1: in both poems, the speakers recall memories of their pain, which suggests that they are still haunted by them.
‘Eighteen years ago… I can see you/ walking away’
‘We stood by the pond that winter day’
Umbrella sentence
Whilst ‘Walking Away’ deals with a fathers pain at parting from his son, ‘Neutral tones’ describes the pain of romantic rejection.
Ts2: Both poets use natural imagery to describe painful feelings.
‘Like an ominous bird a wing’
‘God-curst sun’
‘Starving sod’/ ‘greyish leaves’
‘Eddying…like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem’
‘Pathos of a half-fledged thing set free’
Ts3: However, the pain and suffering takes different forms: Hardy’s speaker feels bitter, Day-Lewis’ speaker feels guilt.
‘Gnaws at my mind still’
‘Keen lessons that love deceives, and wrings with wrong’
‘God/sod’
Topic sentences:
Ts1: recall memories of parting( differences- romantic and family)
Ts2: natural imagery
Ts3: pain in different forms (NT speaker= bitter, WA speaker= guilty)
Structure: Whilst ‘Neutral Tones’ has a cyclical structure that reflects the speakers’ inability to move on emotionally from the painful experience, ‘Walking Away’ uses line breaks and enjambment to reflect the need for the father to let his son become independent.
‘A pond’
‘Drifting away/ behind a scatter of boys’
‘Eighteen years ago…I can see/ you walking away’
L= present tense even though in past- memory still vivid and painful. Structure: line break separates pronouns which emphasises son parting from father. Direct address to son- suggests feelings unresolved in speaker.
‘We stood by the pond that winter day’
L= past tense. Visual memory of parting still vivid; suggests impact on him. L= verb = lack of movement suggests an IMPASSE (a situation where no progress is possible) in their relationship. D= winter symbolises emotional coldness and death of relationship.
‘Like an ominous bird a wing’
L= simile. The bitter smile is a sign their relationship is over and she wants to take flight away from it.
‘God-curst sun’
L= harsh consonant- bitter- sun normally symbolises life and hope C= Hardy was an agnostic. No sign of evidence of god’s love; speaker loses faith and hope.
‘Starving sod’/‘greyish leaves’
L= alliteration. Barren soil symbolises dying relationship; adjective- grey- dying, like their love. R= imagery conveys bleak mood of speaker to the reader.
‘Eddying… like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem’
L= simile. A seed (child) must become independent from its parent if it is to grow. I= alternatively the verb ‘eddying’ suggests child is vulnerable; no clear direction. Must find its own path.
‘Pathos of a half-fledged thing’
L= emotive metaphor. Son= vulnerable. Not ready to become independent. R= pity for him.
‘Like a satellite wrenched from its orbit’
L= simile. Verb= painful. Not ready for parting. Son’s life’s revolved around him.
‘Keen lessons that love deceives, and wrings with wrong’
L= adjective suggests sharp pain of romantic rejection. Plural ‘lessons’= he has experienced rejection many times since their relationship ended. Speaker bitter and cynical= love ‘deceives; pessimistic. He’s lost his faith in love as a positive force.
Alliteration and verb ‘wrings- emphasises the twisting pain of rejection but i= alternatively also implies he perceives himself as the deceived victim. R= feels speaker is self-pitying?
