How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
Till cold winds woke the gray-eyed morn About the lonely moated grange. (31-32)
Talk about pathetic fallacy. The morning has "gray" eyes, and the farmhouse is lonely. It is here that Tennyson makes it clear that nature is entirely under the influence of Mariana's moods. It's either that, or we're only seeing it the way she, in her gloom and dreary state, can see it.
Quote #5
Hard by a poplar shook alway,
All silver-green with gnarled bark:
For leagues no other tree did mark
The level waste, the rounding gray. (41-44)
The poplar tree stands alone in a field of "waste." It has gnarly bark, green and silver in color. This striking tree serves as a symbol for loneliness—and for love. Mariana looks upon it and is reminded of the man that will never return. It is a tree standing in the middle of nowhere, after all. Understandably, the sight of it doesn't make Mariana very happy.