The poem under analysis is called Ah, Are you Digging on My Grace? and it is written by the novelist and poet Thomas Hardy. There are two main speakers in the poem, although other characters were referred to as well. The first main speaker is a deceased woman, who is trying to identify the visitor of her grave. The second main speaker is her living feline companion, which responds to her questions. The dog quotes other characters whom presence is questioned by the woman. The referred-to characters are her lover, family members, and enemy. The poem is essentially a dialog between the woman and her dog. She is astounded to sense that someone is “digging” on her grave, and is disappointed every time she provides an anxious guess. The woman’s first guess is her lover, and asks if he is planting rue on her grave. Her feline companion (who she does not know is talking to her) informs her of her lover’s marriage to a wealthy woman, which she presumably cannot be hurt by anymore considering her death. She guesses again, and it lands on “kin”, who is a family member. She is notified by the dog of their acknowledgment that mourning will not be of benefit as she will not come back to life. The woman gives a final guess, and asks if it is her enemy. She learns the opposite, that her enemy has concluded the woman’s unworthiness after death. Desperately, she asks once more; and her dog, who is concerned of being bothersome, finally announces his identity. The woman appreciates her dog’s devotion and loyally, which she later learns is not so. Her grave became a random spot for the dog to burry its bone in. The poem’s time elapse is based on the start and end of a brief dialog between the woman and the dog. Presumably, it is set in a graveyard, o...
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...g (it will continue to live on).
Together, is seems as if tension dominates resolution. Resolution can be established at a minor degree, but tension and opposition of ideas plays an initial and grand role in the entertainment of the poem.
Works Cited
Clarke, R. (n.d.). The Poetry of Thomas Hardy. rlwclarke. Retrieved February 1, 2014, from http://www.rlwclarke.net/Courses/LITS2002/2008-2009/12AHardy'sPoetry.pdf
Find Your Creative Muse. (n.d.). Find Your Creative Muse. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from http://davehood59.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/what-is-the-importance-of-setting/
Poems for Tragedy and Grief. (n.d.). Poets.org. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5886
Why Are Rhythm & Rhyme Important in Poems?. (n.d.). The Classroom. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from http://classroom.synonym.com/rhythm-rhyme-important-poems-1921.html
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Thomas Hardy was a famous author and poet he lived from 1840 to 1928. During his long life of 88 years he wrote fifteen novels and one thousand poems. He lived for the majority of his life near Dorchester. Hardy got many ideas for his stories while he was growing up. An example of this was that he knew of a lady who had had her blood turned by a convict’s corpse and he used this in the story ‘The Withered Arm’. The existence of witches and witchcraft was accepted in his lifetime and it was not unusual for several people to be killed for crimes of witchcraft every year.