Neutral Tones

• Structure: "day,/[...] God,/[...] sod;/[...] gray."


  ABBA rhyme scheme - regular rhyme scheme --> echoes neutrality & sense of going nowhere
• The title "Neutral Tones" suggests that there is no passion or intensity left in the relationship between the speaker and his lover.
• The poem explores themes such as time, memory, nostalgia, loss, and regret.
• Structure: "We stood by a pond that winter day", "And a pond edged with greyish leaves."


  Cyclical structure - poem ends at the same place it started --> lack of progress, relationship remains lifeless.
• "Your eyes were on me as eyes that rove/ Over tedious riddles"


  Enjambment - emphasis on lack of love

  Resentment/ unresolved complaints that undermined relationship
• "God-curst sun"


  Plosive - even the sun has lost its brightness --> miserable & lifeless