Techniques

• Pronouns


  The collective pronoun 'we' is only used in the beginning of the poem to show how the lovers have come apart.

  'Us' and 'our' are also used but only to refer to their love fading away even more.
• Juxtaposition


  The narrator uses juxtaposition (putting things close together for effect) in phrases like 'alive enough to have the strength to die' to create a sense of the incompatability of the lovers.

  The sun is 'white', implying it is cold.

  His lover's smile is a dead 'thing' and an 'ominous' sign. - This shows the disintegration of the relationship.
• Cyclical structure


  The poem has a cyclical structure as the first line is echoed in the final line.

  This creates a sense od frustration. It reflects the narrators' awarness that his relationship is over, and that he is stuck in his feelings of sadness and disappointment.
• Repetition


  Hardy repeats the colour 'gray' throughout, to emphasise the lack of vitality in the landscape and their relationship.
• Pathetic Fallacy


  The poem uses pathetic fallacy to reflect the bleak lifelessness of the relationship.

  In particular, setting the poem in winter reflects the freezing of the former lovers' feelings and allows Hardy to use a dull colour scheme.
• Assonance


  Assonance (repetition of the similar sounds) in the line 'keen lessons that love decieves' adds to the bitter tone of the narrator.
• Alliteration


  Alliteration in 'wrings with wrong' helps create a bitter, smeering tone and reflects the narrator's anger and frustration.
• Lyric poem


  Neutral Tones is a lyric poem (expresses personal feelings or emotions) following the bitter feelings around a relationship ending.