5.1.3
Key Quotes & Comparisons
Key Quotes: Neutral Tones
Key Quotes: Neutral Tones
Here are some examples of key quotes from Hardy's Neutral Tones:
‘The deadest thing’
‘The deadest thing’
- ‘The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing’.
- The narrator uses juxtaposition (a smile being 'the deadest thing') to show the incompatibility of the lovers.
‘Keen lessons...'
‘Keen lessons...'
- ‘Keen lessons that love deceives / And wring with wrong, have shaped to me / Your face’.
- Alliteration in ‘wring with wrong’ and assonance in the line ‘keen lessons that love deceives’ creates a bitter sneering tone, reflecting the narrator’s bitterness towards his past relationship.
Key Poems for Comparisons With Neutral Tones
Key Poems for Comparisons With Neutral Tones
Here are some suggestions for poems you could compare Neutral Tones to. Remember, there are endless options!
Winter Swans
Winter Swans
- Compare the way in which an estranged couple is presented.
- Contrast the lack of reunion or resolution in Neutral Tones with the reunion in Winter Swans.
When We Two Parted
When We Two Parted
- Compare:
- The bitter tones of the two poems.
- Their use of wintry weather to show the end of a relationship.
Love's Philosophy
Love's Philosophy
- There is a contrast between the depiction of the beginning and end of a relationship.
- Hardy explores a relationship in its final stages in Neutral Tones. This is not a poem like Shelley’s Love’s Philosophy, which is filled with novelty and excitement.
1When We Two Parted - Lord Byron (1788-1824)
2Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley
3Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
4Sonnet 29 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
4.1Sonnet 29 – ‘I think of thee!’ Analysis
5Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
6Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley (Born 1957)
6.1Letters from Yorkshire Analysis
7The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)
8Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)
8.1Walking Away Analysis
9Eden Rock - Charles Causley (1917-2003)
10Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)
10.1Follower Analysis
11‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born1963
11.1'Mother, Any Distance' Analysis
12Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy (Born 1955)
12.1Before You Were Mine Analysis
13Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)
14Singh Song! - Daljit Nagra (Born 1966)
14.1Singh Song! Analysis
15Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse
15.1Climbing My Grandfather Analysis
16Grade 9 - Comparisons
16.1Grade 9 - Comparisons
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1When We Two Parted - Lord Byron (1788-1824)
2Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley
3Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
4Sonnet 29 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
4.1Sonnet 29 – ‘I think of thee!’ Analysis
5Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
6Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley (Born 1957)
6.1Letters from Yorkshire Analysis
7The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)
8Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)
8.1Walking Away Analysis
9Eden Rock - Charles Causley (1917-2003)
10Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)
10.1Follower Analysis
11‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born1963
11.1'Mother, Any Distance' Analysis
12Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy (Born 1955)
12.1Before You Were Mine Analysis
13Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)
14Singh Song! - Daljit Nagra (Born 1966)
14.1Singh Song! Analysis
15Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse
15.1Climbing My Grandfather Analysis
16Grade 9 - Comparisons
16.1Grade 9 - Comparisons
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