NEUTRAL TONES

by: Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

      E 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.

"Neutral Tones" is reprinted from Wessex Poems and Other Verses. Thomas Hardy. New York: Harper, 1898.

MORE POEMS BY THOMAS HARDY

RELATED LINKS

BROWSE THE POETRY ARCHIVE:

[ A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z ]

Home · Poetry Store · Links · Email · © 2002 Poetry-Archive.com