Comparison Between the Poems When We Two Parted and Neutral Tones

Compare how Thomas Hardy and Lord Byron present the breakdown of a relationship in “Neutral Tones” and “When We Two Parted”.

        “Neutral Tones” and “When We Two Parted” are both poems about the breakdown or ending of a relationship between the poets and an ambiguous third party.  Both poets use a variety of features (including structure, language, rhyming schemes and form) to represent the breakdown of a relationship in common and contrasting ways.

        The first way in which the two poets present the breakdown of their relationship in the same light is through the use of a circular structure.  A circular structure is where ideas at the start of a poem are revisited in the ending.  In “Neutral Tones”, a pond features in both the first and the last line and, particularly in the final line, the pond creates and mundane and melancholy feeling: “...a pond edged with greyish leaves.”  The colour of grey reflects the bland nature of the relationship and words based on the colour grey feature a lot in the poem, for example “ash”.  In addition, in the second and penultimate line of “Neutral Tones” pathetic fallacy is used when describing the sun as “God-curst” or “chidden of God”.  The repetition of this idea reinforces the poet’s feelings that there is no hope for him and is also a very powerful use of pathetic fallacy by using images of two very emotive things: God and the sun.  In contrast, in “When We Two Parted” anaphora is used in the final line of the poem: “With silence and tears.”  This refers back to the beginning of the poem with the opening two lines being: “When we two parted in silence and tears…”  The use of anaphora here highlights the nature of the couple’s breakup.  It also helps to embed the idea that the poet’s relationship is probably an affair through the repetition of the word “silence”.  In both poems, the use of a circular structure creates a sense of no progress having been made and also that the poets are still in some way emotionally attached to their previous lover.

        Another way in which both poems reflect a total breakdown in a relationship is through the use of breakdowns in the form.  In “When We Two Parted”, the first four lines of the opening stanza feature five syllables and then the sixth line has six syllables.  The word which throws off the pattern which seemed to be emerging in the form is “cold” hence this breakdown in form highlights this word and adds to the sense that the fire of their relationship had dwindled out.  Furthermore, in the Hardy poem, line six in particular stands out from the rest of the poem which has an iambic pentameter metre.  Looking more closely, the phrase “tedious riddles” in line six is very polysyllabic in contrast to the rest of the largely monosyllabic poem.  The oxymoron, “tedious riddles” reflect the disinterested and complex state of the relationship due to riddles usually being very challenging but enjoyable.  In both cases, the breakdown in form reflects the overall state of their relationship.

        Furthermore, both poems use metaphors which imply that that the fire of the romance has dwindled out.  In “Neutral Tones”, the metaphor used is “They had fallen from an ash and were grey.”  Although in this metaphor the “ash” is used as a tree, Hardy has purposely used the double meaning to create a double entondre to convey how the fire or passion of the relationship has burnt out.  The adjective “grey” also has connotations of lack of heat which would further describe that the passion has burnt out.  In the Lord Byron poem, a metaphor is also used to describe how a certain passion is absent: “Pale grew thy cheek and cold; colder thy kiss...”  This metaphor is describing how the female’s body temperature is metaphorically cooling down and in turn describing how the fire of the romance has burnt out.  

Certain features of both poems also contrast each other.  Firstly, Lord Byron’s poem appears to feature a more passionate breakup as opposed to the apparent blandness in the latter stages of the romance in “Neutral Tones”.  One way in which a contrast in the endings of their relationships is created is through the title.  The word “neutral” generally has connotations of blandness and “tones” often refers to thoughts and feelings.  Therefore, the title of the poem tells us that this is not a passionate fight but that the couple have simply fallen out of love.  On the other hand, the title “When We Two Parted” almost has a lyrical ring to it which reflects the passionate end to their relationship.  The word “parted” also has connotations that the two have been forced apart due to reasons out of their hands.  All in all, the two titles tell us a lot about the nature of the break ups prior to even reading the poems.