Thomas Hardy (1840–1928).
from Wessex Poems and Other Verses. 1898.

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 solved 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.
1867.



Please re-read ‘At Day-Close in November’ and then this poem.
Do the following tasks as fully as you can, quoting where necessary.

Write a summary of ‘At Day-Close in November’, describing its content, offering a little appreciation of its style, and then, finally, trying your hand at a final overview which offers some interpretation. You’ll probably need one or two sentences for each of these bits (description, appreciation, interpretation) and the whole thing will be a neat paragraph or two.

Now, please, do the same with ‘Neutral Tones’.

Finally, write two or three paragraphs in which you compare the poems - analyse their similarities.

Think about mood, imagery and the relationship between nature and emotion in each poem, and how they may be similar.