Biography of Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy was born June 2, 1840, in the village of Upper Bockhampton, located in Southwestern England. His father was a stone mason and a violinist. His mother enjoyed reading and relating all the folk songs and legends of the region. Between his parents, Hardy gained all the interests that would appear in his novels and his own life: his love for architecture and music, his interest in the lifestyles of the country folk, and his passion for all sorts of literature. At the age of eight, Hardy began to attend Julia Martin's school in Bockhampton. However, most of his education came from the books he found in Dorchester, the nearby town. He learned French, German, and Latin by teaching himself through these books. At sixteen, Hardy's father apprenticed his son to a local architect, John Hicks. Under Hicks' tutelage, Hardy learned much about architectural drawing and restoring old houses and churches. Hardy loved the apprenticeship because it allowed him to learn the histories of the houses and the families that lived there. Despite his work, Hardy did not forget his academics: in the evenings, Hardy would study with the Greek scholar Horace Moule. In 1862, Hardy was sent to London to work with the architect Arthur Blomfield. During his five years in London, Hardy immersed himself in the cultural scene by visiting the museums and theaters and studying classic literature. He even began to write his own poetry. Although he did not stay in London, choosing to return to Dorchester as a church restorer, he took his newfound talent for writing to Dorchester as well. From 1867, Hardy wrote poetry and novels, though the first part of his career was devoted to the novel. At first he published anonymously, but when people became interested in his works, he began to use his own name. Like Dickens, Hardy's novels were published in serial forms in magazines that were popular in both England and America. His first popular novel was Under the Greenwood Tree, published in 1872. The next great novel, Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) was so popular that with the profits, Hardy was able to give up architecture and marry Emma Gifford. Other popular novels followed in quick succession: The Return of the Native (1878), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), The Woodlanders (1887), Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). In addition to these larger works, Hardy published three collections of short stories and five smaller novels, all moderately successful. However, despite the praise Hardy's fiction received, many critics also found his works to be too shocking, especially Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure. The outcry against Jude was so great that Hardy decided to stop writing novels and return to his first great love, poetry. Over the years, Hardy had divided his time between his home, Max Gate, in Dorchester and his

lodgings in London. In his later years, he remained in Dorchester to focus completely on his poetry. In 1898, he saw his dream of becoming a poet realized with the publication of Wessex Poems. He then turned his attentions to an epic drama in verse, The Dynasts; it was finally completed in 1908. Before his death, he had written over 800 poems, many of them published while he was in his eighties. By the last two decades of Hardy's life, he had achieved fame as great as Dickens' fame. In 1910, he was awarded the Order of Merit. New readers had also discovered his novels by the publication of the Wessex Editions, the definitive versions of all Hardy's early works. As a result, Max Gate became a literary shrine. Hardy also found happiness in his personal life. His first wife, Emma, died in 1912. Although their marriage had not been happy, Hardy grieved at her sudden death. In 1914, he married Florence Dugale, and she was extremely devoted to him. After his death, Florence published Hardy's autobiography in two parts under her own name. After a long and highly successful life, Thomas Hardy died on January 11, 1928, at the age of 87. His ashes were buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey

NEUTRAL TONES WE stood by a pond that winter day, And the sun was white, as though chidden of God, And a few leaves lay on the starving sod, --They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.

Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove Over tedious riddles solved years ago; And some words played between us to and fro-On which lost the more by our love.

The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing Alive enough to have strength to die; And a grin of bitterness swept thereby Like an ominous bird a-wing....

Since then, keen lessons that love deceives, And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree, And a pond edged with grayish leaves. -Thomas Hardy

Neutral Tones is an early poem written by Thomas hardy about the end of a relationship or the parting of two people who were formerly in love.

THE TITLE Even before reading the poem, one would expect distress, melancholy or themes of depression and sadness to be highlighted based on the title Neutral Tones. Neutral usually means without colour. Therefore black, grey, white and brown are usually referred to as neutral tones. These tones are normally associated with sadness and or depression and are used in describing despairing situations as portrayed throughout the poem, Neutral Tone. The title also assists in creating the melancholic note that was intended by the writer to reflect the termination of the personas relationship.

SUMMARY The poem, Neutral Tone by Thomas Hardy was written in 1867 and is possibly connected to his own personal love affair and its termination which is the subject of the poem. In essence it is a recollection of the ending of a relationship that had gone sour. It starts by describing the drab setting in which the incident took place using neutral words such as gray, ash and white. The second stanza spoke briefly about the actual person in the relationship and their feelings and reaction towards each other and the relationship. The second stanza also highlights the deteriorating relationship they now have suggested by the lack of affection they portrayed to each other. The third oxymoronic stanza uses words that are in total contrast with each other to emphasize the personas bitter reaction towards the situation and his poignant interpretation of the event through the usage of words such as death, and bitter. The last stanza identifies or rather clarifies the fact that the persona was actually were recalling his experience of a previous relationship. Furthermore it highlights the personas feelings or response towards the breakup.

NB: Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy is very neutral in tone;[2] its melancholic note is created by a narrator reflecting on the termination of a relationship. Throughout, a soothing yet depressing language illustrates this duality. Hardy uses a variety of techniques to highlight sadness and emotions in the narrator. The depressed mood of the poem reflects the pessimism shown by Hardy in much of his poetry work. This pessimism was caused by many things: the industrialisation of Britain which meant that the traditional way of life in his country roots were lost; the expansion of the British empire which he opposed; his unhappy first marriage; and his fear and dislike of change.

STANZA ONE

"We stood by a pond that winter day" The persona begins to describe his setting and atmosphere in the first person point of view. the sentence indicates tranquility, still quietness with lack of movement during winter there is no life in a pond, the water is frozen, there are no visible signs of life the poet is therefore painting a lifeless, stark scene that is in accordance with the disheartening nature of the poem. And the sun was white, as though chidden of God, In the second line we get even more of these very "neutral"[4] monosyllabic words This is the modernist approach to light; considering too harsh and a negative factor in which he decribes the sun as white when the sun is normally represented by the colour yellow and a symbol for happiness and life. Chidden means scolded, rebuked or even blamed. This therefore means that God is not looking favourably on the situation and God.

And a few leaves lay on the starving sod, The very dismal atmosphere is reinforced by the use of the alliteration of "L" creating a lazy yet unsatisfying tone.

"starving sod" creates a harsh sound, adding a further layer of hopelessness. Leaves fall from a tree when they are dead and starving sod refers to the dying grass due to the dry ground. This line therefore symbolises the end of an era, hinting towards the dying of lifeYet, it is not life that died, but love.

They had fallen from an ash, and were gray They refers to the few leaves that were previously mentioned The word ash suggests the remains of a fire( and were gray) further emphasing the fact that the fire in the relationship had gone out and ther was nothing left of it The ash could also be interpreted differently but with the same basic significance; An Ash tree is a beautiful hardwood tree. This line therefore suggests the passing of beauty with the leaves turning grey and ties in with the dying leaves in the previous line. The first stanza is basically indicating the death of something once beautiful

STANZA TWO This stanza explores deeper into the nature of their relationship and the connection between hi and his lover Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove The word rove means to travel without fixed destination; to wander, suggesting the lack of fixture and settlement in the relationship, as if wanting to understand or searching for something to hold on to but being disappointed

Over tedious riddles solved years ago; Tedious riddles are what the person mentioned before had been searching for or contemplating about Tedious suggests annoyance, doing a monotonous tiresome task, suggesting her loss of interest in him Riddles suggest problems or mystery and the fact that they were solved years ago suggest that the persons had become bored with each other. There was no spark in the relationship, nothing intriguing about the person anymore as they had already fully discovered each others mysteries This can also be interpreted to mean the couple repeat the same fights without progress

And some words played between us to and fro The poet then continues to describe the communication or lack thereof in the relationship Some words played suggests the lack of importance and concern with which they regarded each other and their relationship While this line may have given a small ray of hope to the reader with the use of the word play suggesting frivolity and lightheartedness, to and fro dampens that possibility by indicating the exchange of words between the two back and forth as if bickering This therefore shows fundamental flaws in their communication, making a meaningful relationship seem impossible. On which lost the more by our love. this final line plainly states what was being hinted at from the beginning of the poem, the loss of love

it directly refers to the instances mentioned in the stanza previously such as the roving eyes, tedious riddles and the played words and how they contributed to the slipping away of their love

STANZA THREE This stanza describes the reaction of the woman towards the relationship The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing A smile, normally a facial gesture associated with happiness and joy; here it is described as "the deadest thing". Also mouth- fake, pretentious, cruelty, inhumane The reader is drawn to the coldness and bitterness that the writer wishes to express, it is a reminder of the morbid reality or lifelessness that was highlighted in the first stanza

Alive enough to have strength to die; The writer continues to play on this irony or oxymoronic metaphor This further increases the emotional turmoil the writer wants to convey to the reader It presents a horrifying image of something that just has enough energy to die, describing the despondency of the persona and the further lack of vivacity in the relationship Hardy skillfully presents all these emotions and stark reality without breaking the "neutral tone"

And a grin of bitterness swept thereby Just like the firstline in the stanza, the juxtaposition of two emotional extremes,grin and bitterness is done deliberately by the writer

His choice of words are apt, not only in this line but throughout the stanza, in the sense that he prepares the reader for his further outlook on love as a deceptive force, pr omising something and delivering something else just as is the case with these gestures.

Like an ominous bird a-wing It is noteworthy that her facial expression has changed from a smile to a grin just before the writer mentions the bird a wing,(flying away), suggesting departure or possibly further death of the relationship The word ominous indicates a threat or sign of something to happen; the grin of bitterness was therefore an omen of the impending breakup or death The ominous bird represents his now shattered trust, against an almost paganistic suggestion in "ominous" which is to be further explored in the final stanza

STANZA FOUR In the final stanza, we actually hear the true opinion or feelings of the persona and narrator being given. This is his side of the story so to speak. Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,

The writer has learnt the lesson that love deceives indicating an inner pain and turmoil yet to heal.

This is the message he is trying to bring across to his readers

And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me This is the opinion he has formulated, love does hurt, it is wrong in that it is deceitful and this incident has affected, even tarnished his outlook on love in general The alliteration wrings with wrong shows how much mental anguish he has been through and we get to almost share his pain

Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree, He mentions the images,associated with the breakup that are reminders of the lesson he has learnt These hold great significance for the persona The sun is no longer white but more negatively described as being God-curst, showing the level of despair and betrayal and anger at the situation And a pond edged with grayish leaves. This final line echoes the pond the speaker recalls at the beginning The poem ends as it had begun, this may be symbolic of the cyclical nature of love and relationships.

Themes 1. Death of love 2. Love deceives/ Betrayal of love Symbols and recurring elements The pond in winter-lifelessness, death, end, despair,sadness The white, God-curst sun- death, hopelessness, anger, negativity, The ash tree, few gray leaves and starving sod- death, loss of beauty, coming to an end Ominous bird a-wing- departure, death, betrayal

Techniques ABBA rhyme scheme Maintaining melancholic tone throughout the poem despite change In emotions in keeping with the title neutral tones,an attempt to shield the hurt of the writer possibly while expressing his depression Distance and neutrality of its language serves as a perfect example of "less is sometimes more" as it enhances the effectiveness of the poem

 Mood: Sad,Somber,reflective,depressed Devices 1. Imagery 2. Pun The Ash- actual ashes and the tree The pond on a winter day The White/ God curst sun The few gray leaves from the ash tree Starving sod The ladys facial expressions-smile,grin Ominous bird

3. Oxymoronic metaphors The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing Grin of bitterness

4. Paradox Alive enough to have strength to die

5. Alliteration wrings with wrong, leaves lay starving sod

6. Simile- like an ominous bird a-wing