The Breakdown of a Relationship: A Comparison of ‘Neutral Tones’ and ‘Modern Love’ Anonymous 12th Grade

The breakdown of a relationship is presented in many ways throughout both ‘Neutral Tones’ by Thomas Hardy and ‘Modern Love’ by George Meredith. For example, they both explore themes of memory, and loss (of love). I will be exploring and comparing both poems to each other in this essay.

Firstly, the poem ‘Neutral Tones’ explores themes of loss and almost a mourning of love as the first three stanzas focus on a memory in which the couple are stood by a pond. The final stanza is also a reflection and a reminiscence of what had been and the lasting power of that memory. For example, ‘Since then, keen lessons that love deceives’ This quote in this final stanza implies that time has moved on since the beginning of the poem and everything the reader has read until this stanza has been in the past. This quote also shows that the breakdown of the relationship has had a long lasting effect on him as he is still reflective upon it, and it emphasizes the lasting power of his memory and the impact it has had on him all this time.

The imagery ‘Neutral Tones’ explores is based on the idea of pathetic fallacy, as the poem is set in the winter where natural life does not progress on further. Hardy used different aspects of nature to convey his...