The two poets also use different imageries to convey their feelings. The poems are set in two totally different backgrounds. ‘Neutral Tones’ was set in a lifeless place but ‘Absence’ was set in a place that was merry.
Hardy uses ‘dead’ images in his poem such as a “winter day”, which symbolises coldness and bitterness, “sun was white…chidden of God” to symbolise gloom and melancholy, “starving sod” and many more. All these images that Hardy use, emphasise the fact that they have broken up and how he feels angry yet heart-broken at the same time. These ‘dead’ images are very appropriate to this poem because they show that even nature could sense the loss of passion and the death of a relationship. Hardy uses colours like “white” and “grey” which are dull colours. I also imagine the colour brown even though it is not mentioned in the poem because of the ground and the dead leaves. These colours are neutral, which ties in with the title “neutral tones”. These images enhance the barren background, which is symbolically connected to Hardy’s feelings. Perhaps Hardy uses these images not because the surroundings so happened to be gloomy that day but because he is so distressed, he only chooses to see those gloomy things in nature. Hardy merely uses these images in the beginning to build up his feelings. He later describes her facial features. She had “eyes that rove” which shows her indifference. Hardy could be frustrated not only because he has lost her, but because of her apathetic feeling towards him which probably made him feel even worse than if she had hated him. Her “smile was the deadest thing” shows that it was not a sincere smile. Here Hardy uses antithetical words such as “smile” and “deadest thing”, and “grin of bitterness” which makes the reader shocked. The words “smile” and “grin” refer to cheerful events but Hardy combines these with “deadest” and “bitterness” which are words that show he was indignant. This draws the readers’ attention and it also gives emphasis to her insincere body language. Hardy associates her “face” with all his sullenness. He says that all his “lessons that love deceives” have “shaped” to him, her face. In previous stanzas, Hardy mentions that her eyes remind him of “tedious riddles of years ago” and “some words played” between them. This shows that he put all their past problems that were never dealt with, his unanswered doubts, volley of probably unpleasant words, his bitter feelings and her indifference together during this time and moulds it into her face. So now, when looking at that face, he brings the landscape into his feelings to heighten his frustration. His alliterative use of the words “wrings with wrong” portrays to the reader an image of her face which is full of wrong doings and that no matter how much you try to squeeze out, the ‘wrongness’ will always be there. Hardy uses her face as the conveyance of all his disputes with her and all the resentment inside him. This makes the poem effective to show how strongly Hardy feels about his break up.
Jennings’s poem is somewhat the opposite. She has set her poem in a beautiful garden where everything seems fine, “well-tended” and “steady” – exactly the way it was before she broke up. This shows that she feels everything was against her. She wants everything to be gloomy like her feelings but was annoyed when she saw that “nothing was changed” to suit her feelings. She says, “It was because the place was just the same that made your absence seem a savage force”, and this line shows that it was because of the normalcy of the landscape that made her lonelier. The line “there was no sign that anything had ended” proves that she wants life to continue as normal for her but it can’t, because she is shattered due to her break up. Her use of more joyful images like the “birds… singing an ecstasy” and the “fountains” which “sprayed their usual steady jet” are also effective, like Hardy’s images. These images show that she expects her surroundings to feel grim as well but it isn’t which makes her feel bitterer. Jennings is not only distressed by the absence of the one she loves; she is also bothered that she is in a place that was joyful yet she couldn’t share the same joy. The place is so jovial that “surely in these pleasures there could not be a pain to bear” yet, she feels pain. Jennings is able to realise and accept the differences between her surroundings and her feelings. In fact, she uses these differences to create disappointment in her. Hardy seems so disorientated that he only sees the depressing side of his surroundings and uses that to emphasise his feelings.
The language in the poems also differs greatly. A reason for this could be that the poems were written at different times. Hardy wrote his poem in 1867 but ‘Absence’ was written about a hundred years later. Hardy uses more complicated words and phrases like “chidden”, “ominous bird a-wing” and “wrings” because his poem is more descriptive rather than narrative like Jennings’s. Jennings’s use of language is more colloquial and easier to comprehend. The words she uses are simple and quite straightforward. I think Hardy uses complex words to make his poem more emotional just like his depressed feelings. In the fist two lines of the last stanza in Jennings’s poem, she used alliteration of the letter ‘s’. This makes the lines very strong and “cunning” as it sounds like a whip. This also makes me feel that she is going through a lot of pain and hurt. Hardy also uses alliteration in the words “wrings with wrong” and this adds to his embittered tone.
Another difference between the two poems is the rhyme scheme and rhythm. Hardy uses an ‘abba’ rhyme scheme. The rhythm is also haltering and inconsistent – ”We stood by a pond that winter day”, “alive enough to have strength to die”, “And wrings with wrong…” This disjointed rhythm in ‘Neutral Tones’ shows that Hardy is devastated about his girlfriend leaving and his feelings are faltering between anger and bitterness. It ends with a very slow but staggering rhythm, which I feel is suitable to the poem. – “And a pond edged with grayish leaves”. The beginning of the last stanza is said in an angry manner and when it reaches the climax “your face, and the God–curst sun, and a tree” the reader can feel his infuriation. His tone is so bitter that it epitomises cynicism. He uses the words “God curst” to describe the sun which shows that he could even see the bitterness in something cosmic, the sun, and was even angered at God about his break up. When he was describing the “pond edged with grayish leaves”, the poem slows down which is effective because this makes the pond seem lifeless and this relates to his lifeless feelings. The way Hardy had put the rhythm makes the reader feel dismal as well. The rhythm in ‘Absence’ is gradually getting faster and more powerful. The rhythm is steady but in the climax – which is the last two lines, the rhythm is very forceful. The steady rhythm of this poem makes the reader realise that the background was steady and she was the only one who was feeling broken-hearted. The beginning of this poem may seem slow because of the long words used. “Nothing was changed…nothing to instruct me to forget”. The words are simple and long so the rhythm seems to drag. In the last stanza, the words are shorter – “It was because the place was just the same…” The poet ends with a tremor, a sign for an impending disaster, which gives the reader an image of the garden shaking and this creates a stumbling rhythm at the end.
A minor difference in the poems is that there was only one person present in ‘Absence’ but both people present in ‘Neutral Tones’. Hardy describes the looks of the girl - “eyes on me were as eyes that rove” and “The smile…was the deadest thing” Jennings only describes her feelings and her surroundings. She only mentions thinking about the other person at the end of the poem. Even so, she is only thinking of his name. This difference shows me that Hardy emphasises more on how his relationship has been broken and how his partner didn’t feel his distress, but Jennings emphasises more on her anguish that the things around her aren’t gloomy and how she can’t share their delight.
I personally prefer Hardy’s poem ‘Neutral Tones’ because he uses imagery very effectively. Hardy uses the landscape, colours, and facial features to convey his heart brokenness. I liked the way Hardy chose an aggravated tone for his poem and how he has developed it towards the end to describe his girlfriend’s face. From his poem, I could actually feel Hardy’s devastation because he even brought in the bitter side of nature to enhance his feelings. Hardy also had a dramatic ending where he used the alliteration “wrings with wrongs”. I also liked the way Hardy had combined all his anger and problems and merged them into his ex-girlfriend’s face. I think Hardy was successful in using imagery by describing the surroundings in the beginning of the poem and concluding with the surroundings as well. Hardy’s choice of language was also appropriate to describe his emotions. All in all, I think Hardy was very successful in using vivid imagery to portray his feelings.
