Neutral Tones

Neutral Tones

by Thomas Hardy

We stood by a pond that winter day, (We- as in the speaker and another, whom I am assuming is a girl or girlfriend. Since I am from the North a pond on a winter day to me, is still and lifeless.)
And the sun was white, as though chidden of God, (“The sun was white” indicates that the sun was bright, but the next phrase “chidden of God” indicates that it was bright not in a plere rasing sense, but in almost a harsh sense. The word “chidden” comes from 'chide' which means scold. “Chidden of” God makes me believe that the harsh light of the sun represents God overlooking with distaste.)
And a few leaves lay on the starving sod; (Leaves lay on the dry and barren ground around them.)
--They had fallen from an ash, and were gray. (The gray leaves had fallen from an ash tree)

Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove (Eyes that rove= not focused, seeing through or around.)
Over tedious riddles of years ago; (Tedious=long and tiresome, riddles=altercations or possibly just memories in general. When considering the first line it seems that she is contemplating the past or reminiscing. )
And some words played between us to and fro (They conversed, 'some words' gives the impression that the conversation was mundane, or lacking passion and fervor.)
On which lost the more by our love. (He was more greatly effected and at loss by the conversation than she. )

The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing (Her smile was lackluster, without enthusiasm)
Alive enough to have strength to die; (This line contradicts the last line, it was not “the deadest thing” if here he claims it was “alive enough”. Here it is clear that she was literally smiling to some extent but it was in vain. The difference between this line and the first line is that the first interpretation of her smile was subjective, and though she was smiling, he considers it irrelevant because it was without meaning.)
And a grin of bitterness swept thereby (Her smile was resentful, supercilious.)
Like an ominous bird a-wing. . . .(Threatening, waiting to attack. The ellipses at the end represents a passing of time.)

Since then, keen lessons that love deceives, (“Since then” indicates that time has passed, the past three lines were a memory of the past. Keen=precise and clear, “keen lessons that love deceives”, this indicates that he was naive in the past, and even in the memory represented by the first three stanzas he may have been ignorant as to the nature of the relationship, or lack thereof.)
And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me (Wrings=to cause distress to, the distress and wrong doing he has experienced has shaped him, he has gained wisdom through negative experience. He is no longer as naive as he was in the memory, the first three stanzas.)
Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree, (Imagery, from memory, reflected in the first stanza, literal.)
And a pond edged with grayish leaves. (Again, literal imagery from the memory. Being that he ended with this line, though it is literal imagery, it is also metaphorical and sums up the moral of the poem.)

Thomas Hardy is speaking from a first person perspective in the poem and is addressing the female in the poem, as indicated by the word “your” throughout. It seems that he is not addressing her directly, but rather is reminiscing on a moment they shared together and addressing her in thought.

The first line of the poem that was not immediately understandable to me was the phrase “chidden of God”. The word chidden comes from the word “chide” which means 'to scold'. I was unsure of what context Hardy was using the word. The immediate usage of the word 'of' following it left me a little confused as to whether he meant that the sun appeared scolded by God, or if the sun represents God, whom is scolding. The line “on which lost the more by our love” was the most difficult for me to understand because of its odd wording. When starting with “on which”, I asked myself on which what? I thought that it meant “on which the conversation.” I don't think that the conversation is what is being effected though, but rather he is effected based on the conversation. The remaining words, “the more by our love”, means that he is left more effected by their relationship (and breakup) than she is or will be. I think that some added punctuation in this line would have made it more clear.

The language of the poem is solemn and somewhat dismal. Because I have such an appreciation for fall and winter, the images in the poem are very vivid to me because this is my favorite time of the year, and one of which I have many memories of myself. I like the imagery in the poem because I believe that the setting and the landscape that Hardy uses is a direct representation of the situation itself. The environment around them was dying, just as their love was essentially dying. Even though Hardy may not have known at the time that they were breaking up, in looking back he sees death in everything, not just the surroundings. I think this is somewhat ironic.

In the first stanza Hardy is describing a specific day and laying out and describing the setting. The second and third stanzas bring another character in the poem, a girl. He describes the interaction that took place between them. The words in these stanzas are in past tense, meaning that the interaction took place in the past. I especially like the end of third stanza with the line, “Like an ominous bird a-wing. . . .” This line indicated that she had intentions he was not yet aware of and the use of the ellipses represents a passing of time. The final stanza is written in present tense and it becomes clear that the rest of the poem was a memory of which he is reminiscing. It is obvious now that the memory is of a break up and in the last stanza he describes how it has effected him presently.

Another line that I liked was the very ending lines of the poem, “Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree, And a pond edged with grayish leaves.” The lines “Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree” I think is written literally as to what he saw. But the last line, “And a pond edged with grayish leaves,” I think is full of symbolism and sums up the poem. Earlier in the poem in the first stanza there was another line that is similar, “And a few leaves lay on the starving sod.” I believe that the starving sod represents himself. He desires something that she cannot supply him with. The gray leaves represent the woman, where he is in need, she is the gray and dead leaves which cannot alleviate his wants/needs. The final line of the poem only reiterates this fact, whereas he is the ground surrounding the pond, the grayish leaves on that ground represent the woman, possibly other women after, and his disappointments in general.

The title of the poem really is applicable to the overall meaning of the poem. Neutral means, indifference or without hue. Tones means a color or shade, or a characteristic. The title describes both the environment in the poem as well as the situation. The title is an oxymoron.