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Characters · 2
The Beloved (You)
The Beloved, referred to as "you" throughout, is the silent and elusive second figure in Thomas Hardy's bleak lyric poem "Neutral Tones."
character
The Speaker
The Speaker in Thomas Hardy's "Neutral Tones" is an unnamed, first-person narrator who navigates themes of memory and disillusionment, which drive the poem's dramatic tension.
character
Key quotes · 8
“We stood by a pond that winter day”
This opening line is delivered by the unnamed speaker in Thomas Hardy's poem "Neutral Tones," written in 1867 and published in 1898 as part of Wessex Poems.
Poetic speaker (Thomas Hardy)
“And the sun was white, as though chidden of God”
This line comes from Thomas Hardy's poem Neutral Tones (1867, published in Wessex Poems in 1898).
Hardy's lyric persona
“And a few leaves lay on the starving sod”
This line is from Thomas Hardy's early poem Neutral Tones (1867, published 1898 in Wessex Poems), delivered by the unnamed first-person narrator as he reflects on a bleak winter scene by a pond.
First-person narrator (unnamed) · Stanza 1
“They had fallen from an ash, and were gray”
This line is taken from Thomas Hardy's poem Neutral Tones (1867, published 1898 in Wessex Poems).
Lyric speaker (Thomas Hardy) · Stanza 2
“Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove / Over tedious riddles of years ago”
These lines are from Thomas Hardy's poem "Neutral Tones," written in 1867 and published in 1898 in Wessex Poems.
Lyric speaker (Thomas Hardy)
“And some words played between us to and fro / On which lost the more by our love”
These lines are from Thomas Hardy's poem "Neutral Tones," written in 1867 and later published in Wessex Poems in 1898.
The lyric speaker (Hardy's persona)
“The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing / Alive enough to have strength to die”
These haunting lines come from Thomas Hardy's poem "Neutral Tones" (1867, published 1898 in Wessex Poems).
Lyric speaker (Thomas Hardy) · Neutral Tones
“Since then, keen lessons that love deceives, / And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me / Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree, / And a pond edged with grayish leaves”
These closing lines are delivered by the unnamed speaker in Thomas Hardy's "Neutral Tones" (1867, published 1898 in Wessex Poems).
Unnamed speaker / poetic persona (Thomas Hardy)
Symbols · 4
Fallen Leaves
In Thomas Hardy's "Neutral Tones," the fallen leaves scattered around the pond symbolize decay, emotional emptiness, and the end of love.
Her Smile
In Thomas Hardy's "Neutral Tones," the woman's smile symbolizes the end of love and the damaging effects of emotional disillusionment.
The Pond
In Thomas Hardy's "Neutral Tones," the pond is a powerful symbol of emotional emptiness and lost love.
The Sun
In Thomas Hardy's poem Neutral Tones, the sun symbolizes emotional emptiness and the end of love.
Literary devices · 12
Symbolism
The entire scene in 'Neutral Tones' serves as a rich symbolic backdrop.
Pathetic Fallacy
Hardy skillfully uses pathetic fallacy with remarkable brevity throughout the poem.
Imagery
The poem's imagery is strikingly visual and tactile, using shades of grey, white, and ash to evoke a sensory experience of emotional numbness.
Volta
The poem's most striking shift happens at the beginning of the final quatrain: 'Since then, keen lessons that love deceives, / And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me / Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree, / And a pond edged with grayish leaves.'
Refrain
Hardy employs a near-refrain structure by revisiting the same landscape images from the poem's opening stanza in its closing lines.
Quatrain
'Neutral Tones' consists of four quatrains, each serving as a distinct moment of observation or reflection that contributes to the overall argument of the poem.
Irony
The title "Neutral Tones" highlights the poem's central irony.
Alliteration
Hardy employs alliteration sparingly but effectively.
Sibilance
Sibilance weaves through 'Neutral Tones,' creating an unsettling sonic backdrop.
Metaphor
Hardy's most striking metaphors work through compression.
Oxymoron
The poem's most striking oxymoron is found in its depiction of the smile: 'the deadest thing / Alive enough to have strength to die.'
Elegy
Though "Neutral Tones" isn't an elegy for someone who's passed away, it serves as an elegy for a lost love — and, more broadly, for the speaker's ability to feel hopeful.