In Thomas Hardy’s “Neutral Tones”, the mood of the speaker in the poem appears to be in a sad state while in William Blake’s “The Tyger” the mood of the speaker in the poem appears to be enthralled and mystified by the very presence or existence of a tiger. Both poems offer a glimpse into the mood of the speakers, given more life and meaning by the words written by the authors of the poem in varying styles. Apparently, both of the poems have their poetic depth, so to speak, that can only be revealed to the reader through a careful appraisal of the poems in their respective parts and totalities.Similarly, an insightful reading of the parts of the poems gives the reader an understanding of the speakers in the poems and the general mood in each of these poems.
Blake’s “The Tyger” features the speaker which appears to be fascinated by the thought of the very existence of the tiger. In fact, the speaker in the poem poses several questions that seek to contemplate on the ways in which the tiger was created, which also suggests that there must have been a ‘creator’ of the tiger.With that idea, the reader can already catch a fleeting glimpse of how the author is trying to engage the attention of the reader, further exemplified by the strong descriptions of the subject in the poem. The stanzas of the poem highlight the perplexed state of the speaker, all the more emphasizing the astonishment of the speaker as if the speaker has grown unfamiliar with such a very familiar animal.
On the other hand, Hardy’s “Neutral Tones” seems to suggest a mood that is melancholic and yet the speaker in the poem appears to be suspending emotions.Such suspension of emotions of bitterness and fondness of the memories of the speaker can be immediately reflected on the title of the poem. The title itself, “Neutral Tones,” suggests colors that are neither bright nor dark; more precisely, the title suggests that the author is trying to put the reader a distance away from the speaker in the sense that the reader may find the consistent reference to “white” and “grey” a bit strange especially since when colors are part of every person’s memories in life.By using white and grey to describe the surroundings of the speaker, the writer of the poem is able to place the reader far enough not to be able to fully grasp the exact emotions of the speaker while recalling memories but near enough to give the reader a certain familiarity of the speaker’s situation.
In Blake’s “The Tyger,” the speaker’s manifestation of awe and bewilderment heightens the poem’s general mood of ‘wondering,’ of being in a state of questioning what seems to be obvious but which truly is worth thinking about. The author did so by constantly making the speaker pose questions aimed specifically at the tiger’s existence, revealing the depth of interest of the speaker not only with the tiger but also with “the immortal hand or eye” that framed the tiger’s “fearful symmetry”.Hardy’s “Neutral Tones” can only get as far as the larger parts of the experiences of the speaker as if the writer intentionally removed the fine details in those experiences so as to give the reader the sense that the speaker wants to forget the bitter moments from a broken relationship, the words played between them “to and fro” which was “lost all the more by our love. ” In spite of the poems’ differences, both poems nevertheless offer the readers a feeling of different moods in poems as revealed by poets through the speakers in the poems.
