Neutral tones by Thomas Hardy and Sonnet XVIII by William Shakespeare Essay Example For Students

Neutral tones by Thomas Hardy and Sonnet XVIII by William Shakespeare Essay William Shakespeares poem Shall I compare thee to a summers day? or Sonnet XVIII as it is commonly referred to was composed at the end of the sixteenth century in the renaissance period. It is an Elizabethan love sonnet. In this era, the people had a taste for witty poems with a common stance for the lover to woo his mistress. Thomas Hardys poem Neutral Tones was in contrast written on a later date during the Victorian era. Although the poems were written in very different time periods, they both share a similar relevance to their conception of love. Both poems are focused on love as their subject matter throughout, although this does not mean that they are alike in structure, form or style. In fact the opposite is true as the two poems contrast in their portrayal of love. Shakespeares poem Sonnet XVIII is in fact a sonnet comprising of fourteen iambic pentameter decasyllabic lines which are divided into three quatrains and one rhyming couplet. Hardys poem, in contrast, is written in four by four line stanzas. However both poems have a regular rhyming scheme, Shakespeares quatrains have alternate coupling rhymes contrasted to ABBA rhyming scheme, which has a definite end to each stanza, just like the end to the relationship. Sonnet XVIII uses positive language and is principally based around summer imagery, which gives a sense of a flourishing, prosperous relationship, in contrast with Neutral Tones which uses negative tones and winter imagery for Hardy to discuss his love affair with his mistress that appears to be a more than static relationship. The vowels used by both authors are somewhat significant to their portrayal of how their relationships unfolded. Shakespeare uses majorily sharp vowels -e, i, as an indication to his perfect love whereas Hardy uses softer, more dragging vowels -a, o, u, along with soft feminine rhymes, which provides a mood of melancholy and wistfulness and tells the reader that the love has gone from his mistress and he. A very interesting point in comparing these two poems is that Shakespeares poem is written in the present tense and is a poetic argument unfolding in front of us, whereas Hardys poem is in the past tense and is merely explaining what happened in the break up of the relationship. Shakespeares Sonnet XVIII opens with a witty, light-hearted tone- Shall I compare thee to a summers day? This first line is a rhetorical question, and shows the mistress as a woman full of charisma and allure. The rhetorical question gives a facetious and playful beginning to the sonnet and gives the impression of a thriving, loving, passionate relationship. The way, in which the opening line uses summer imagery, -Summers day- suggests the loving, amorous, ardent relationship, which Shakespeare intended to present to the readers. The speaker continues to express this love he feels for his mistress in the next line- Thou art more lovely and more temperate; gives the reader a sense of Shakespeare illustrating his mistress as a woman full of physical beauty, which is an analogy of how he feels intimately for her. All the language used here is positive, it is suggestive of how the mistress is more beautiful than a blossoming summers day. Following the theme of beauty and affectionateness, Shakespeare uses the phrase, Darling buds of May to tell her how much he cares about her, and this gives an indication of Shakespeares belief that their love has the potential to blossom, grow and develop: And summers lease hath all too short a date This line tells the reader how Shakespeare thinks that perhaps his mistress life is too short to fulfil the real potential of their love. This shows how Shakespeare loves her and expresses sadness at the thought that their love must one day come to an end. The quote -summers lease- is used to refer to his mistress being as gorgeous as summer and that her lease, a binding contract with an agreed date, is too short for him and their love. Throughout the following four lines the imagery of summer is shown to be fading away and turning dull all the time. Personification of the sun and the sky is used to signify this experience- Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmd The imagery eye of heaven is used to represent the sun. These two lines show how the sun is so beautiful with its gold complexion but although it is extremely attractive (too hot) it will die down and hide away from sight inevitably: And every fair from fair some-time declines The repetition of fair shows the happiness of both the season of summer and the woman talked about in the poem. This quote says that all good things however must come to an end some time. Shakespeare shows how he believes that their love could possibly end one day by chance despite how much they care for each other and feel for each other now- Metaphorical importance in the poem EssayHardy shows his readers how he failed to fully understand the relationship he was involved in through the next line- Over tedious riddles of years ago; This line is suggestive of the two people standing and talking about how their relationship went wrong. riddles of years ago implies that the relationship was a complicated one which ended a long time ago. The use of the word tedious implies that the relationship had become dull and burdensome upon the speaker. The line: And some words played between us to and fro is a symbolic line through it showing how the relationship was one argument. to and fro implies that the two could not talk as though in love but instead were constantly fighting in contrast to Shakespeares poem which gives a loving relationship. Again this is another hint as to why the relationship was destined to corruption. The final line in the second stanza is one of a paradoxical nature: -On which lost the more by our love it shows how the relationship was not to be a successful one from the outset. In the third stanza, enjambment is used to indicate the continuation of the speakers feelings after the relationship is over. The use of- The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing is suggestive of how the speaker could see through the mistress false face and see the forced, unreal smile. This forced smile is a sign that the mistress was not interested in the speaker, and that the zest had gone from the relationship so an end was the only option. Alive enough to have strength to die Again Hardy uses paradoxical language here as he does with the following line- And a grin of bitterness swept thereby A relationship is supposed to be a happy, joyful thing. The use of grin of bitterness here shows the narrators real feelings and exemplifies how the narrator is aware of the untrue smile. The stanza finishes with leader dots at the end of: Like an ominous bird a-wing This phrase suggests that something of a bad nature is about to happen. The grin of bitterness is an omen to the narrator that the relationship is over. Personification is used: bird a-wing The forth stanza revives the first stanza and the landscape illustrated earlier in the poem. It is the relationship viewed in retrospect. The last stanza opens with Since then The use of a semicolon here shows the narrator looking back over the relationship and thinking about what has happened: Since then keen lessons hat love deceives edged with grayish leaves. The whole verse is a continuous rhyme with the last word of each line. This gives the verse a list-like quality showing the anger in the narrator. The use of alliteration in the second line of this stanza: And wrings with wrong -also gives it a list-like quality. This style creates a sense of bitterness in the speaker, which is contradictory to the narrators feelings at the start. The language used here is also symbolic of the bitterness felt by the narrator. Keen lessons that love deceives is an ambiguous phrase. The narrator is talking about other relationships he has learned from or possibly the lesson he has learnt from this woman. The tone of this stanza reflects his discontent and shows how, with the passing of time, his resentment has intensified. The final two lines of the poem present a very paradoxical idea of the relationship, as they imply that the more they talk, the less fond of each other they grow. The third line suggests that the narrator has become somewhat hateful towards the mistress. He refers to the mistress using God-curst sun which is a use of negative imagery. The poem finishes on a very definite note. Hardy uses pathetic fallacy to show how everything is dead. The poem ends where it began, at the side of a pond, and as a sign of the end, the pond is edged with grayish leaves implying that their relationship is dead. Although both writers use very similar methods to show their experiences of love, the two methods contrast in relation to style and imagery. Both poems share the same topic and are very closely related in terms of form and meaning but a clear comparison can be made to distinguish the two different attitudes towards love and relationships. My preference is Hardys poem, as I prefer the four by four line stanzas. I find this breaks up the poem better. The language describing this failed attempt at love compared to Shakespeares poem of a thriving love, is to the point and creates a sense of pity towards the speaker.