Neutral Tones Group

Question:

ranasaba
ranasaba
Student

What is the theme of the poem "Neutral Tones" by Thomas Hardy?

What does the writer want to describe in this poem?

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Posted by ranasaba on Monday October 13, 2008 at 11:33 AM and tagged with neutral tones, theme.

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  1. julierunacres Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The primary subject of the poem is pain experienced at the ending of a love affair. The feelings of bitterness and loss are viewed retrospectively, connected with a remembered meeting 'by a pond, that winter day.' Both the speaker and the female he addresses are accusatory; both feel they have 'lost the more by [their] love.' In the final stanza, the speaker shifts perspective from the memory, and reflects on the bitter lesson that he has taken from it: 'keen lessons that love deceives.'

    Part of the power of the poem derives from the interaction between the characters and the setting. The bleakness and desolation of the landscape echoes the death of their love. There are ironies too, however: the pastel shades suggested by 'neutral tones' are deceptive, since the emotions they reflect are anything but neutral.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/neutral-tones-salem/neutral-tones

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    Posted by julierunacres on Thursday October 16, 2008 at 1:55 PM