The breakdown of a relationship is presented in several ways in both Thomas Hardy's "Neutral Tones" and George Meredith's "Modern Love" George Meredith. For example, they both explore themes of memory and loss (of love). I will explore and compare the two poems in this essay. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay First, the poem “Neutral Tones” explores the themes of loss and almost mourning of love as the first three stanzas focus on a memory in which the couple is at the edge of a pond. The final stanza is also a reflection and reminiscence of what was and the lasting power of that memory. For example, “Since then, lively lessons that love deceives” This quote in this final stanza implies that time has passed since the beginning of the poem and that everything the reader has read up to this stanza is in the past. This quote also shows that the breakup of the relationship had a lasting effect on him because he still thinks about it, and it highlights the lasting power of his memory and the impact it had on him all this time. The exploration of Neutral Tones is based on the idea of ​​a pathetic fallacy, as the poem takes place in winter, where natural life does not progress further. Hardy used different aspects of nature to express his views on marriage and relationships. For example, he used the image of a pond, but in this poem the pond has no movement that could suggest that the relationship is going nowhere. Additionally, the sun, which generally has connotations of warmth and brightness, is here displayed as "white" and seemingly deprived of its ability to warm and nourish those around it. The leaves of the poem decompose just like the relationship, they are gray as if their color had been drained, hence the name "neutral tones" for the poem which would have been the poet's intention. Finally, the ashes in the poem could symbolize death and remind the reader of Hardy's relationship which seems to have died out a long time ago, this could also suggest the death of the relationship. However, the poem "Modern Love" explores themes of depression and suffering, as neither of them want to be married anymore, but they think it would be worse to divorce because of the society they lived in at the time , that is to say Victorian, where divorce would have been frowned upon. marriage was considered a sacrament of God (people were also incredibly religious in the 19th century) and breaking this sacrament would have been like breaking one's promise to God and disobeying his wishes, because one would have thought two people were together because of God and his plans for each individual. The breakdown of the marriage is seen in the first line where it is said that "by this he knew she cried with waking eyes", this could imply that the husband is very aware of his wife's pain and sadness , "that from his hand a slight quivering near his head" could suggest the fact that because the husband's hand is trembling, he is perplexed or frightened and also upset, as is his wife. In the second stanza it is said that the wife is "terribly venomous" towards her husband, this could highlight the fact that their relationship is toxic and intoxicated because they are not good for each other and that they don't bring out the best. All in all, the longer they stay, the more it could poison each other, perhaps foreshadowing the end of their relationship, "like the sword that cuts all", which would be considered divorce. In the poem "Neutral Tones", the rhythmic pattern of the poem is not consistent, which.