Poems Concentrated Ed:4

This is the 4th Edition of Poem’s Concentrated. And this time, it’s another Hardy. I think it’s a really special Hardy too. There’s something unique about the way he keeps the poem so ‘Neutral’!  This has a place as one of my favourite poems of all times because of that, and I think it deserves a place on your favourites too. Read it, and you’ll see what I mean.

Neutral Tones

We stood by a pond that winter day,

And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,

And a few leaves lay on the starving sod;

         – They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.

Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove

Over tedious riddles of years ago;

And some words played between us to and fro

         On which lost the more by our love.

The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing

Alive enough to have strength to die;

And a grin of bitterness swept thereby

         Like an ominous bird a-wing….

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.

Make sure to read it another time, just so you absorbed as much as you can, before you read below.

So, what did you think? Hardy is such a master of words. The poem is so flat, so grey, the subject sad, grey, the tone full of remorse, also grey. Wait. Everything about the poem is grey. Even the words! Okay, I did that. But in every stanza, in every word even, he preserves the grey, moody, sad, remorseful feeling, and he truly makes use of the purpose of poems, which is to convey emotion and feelings. He conveys to us the feeling he had when he realised that his relation is coming to an end.  That’s why I love it. Today, this edition is going to end with the summary I got from a great website called ukessays.com. Enjoy!

The speaker addresses an estranged lover and reminisces about a foreseen moment in their past, from where he already anticipates the demise of their relationship. The first three stanzas (lines 1-12) describe the past incident when the speaker faces the bleak moments of a break up process. The speaker is mentally perturbed by the disillusions of love, believing that things were once beautiful. He is frustrated when love perishes and felt deceived by the sweet promises love had to offer.

(Read more: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/summary-of-neutral-tones-by-thomas-hardy-english-literature-essay.php#ixzz3i7bJrTWW)

If you enjoyed this, make sure to check out the previous 3 editions of Poems Concentrated:

Edition 1

Edition 2

Edition 3

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Remember, if you are an aspiring poet or even a established one, please do send in your poems and short summary to spitfirerob@gmail.com, because we’d love to feature them!

Thanks for reading!