Natural Tones

Discuss the structure of the poem “Neutral Tones”

 Hardy’s poem neutral tones have a compact structure and singleness of Idea. The theme here is the frustration of love and the bitter memories that loss has left behind. This idea has fully been brought out in the final stanza where the poet speaks of the deception of love and the pain which the beloved’s inconstancy causes to the lover.

The Desolation of the neutral scene accords perfectly with the mood of both the lover and the beloved. the poem consists of 4 stanzas, each written according to the same rhyme scheme.  the neutral scene of the first stanza has been repeated in the final stanza, though in abridged Form. there is a most appropriate simile in the grin bitterness being compared to an ominous bird in flight.

not only is the nature picture here are most vivid,  but even the picture of the bitter simile on the beloved’s mouth has vividly been depicted: “ the smile on your mouth was the deadest thing/ alive enough to have the strength to die”. 

there is alliteration in the phrases. “Wrings  with wrong;  and” god- curst sun” (here is the sound “S”  it has been repeated in a subtle  Manner.)This poem too has been regarded as one of hardy’s most successful ones.  the vocabulary Evan here is tough is from the point of view of the average reader.