The Themes of Loss and Loneliness in Hardy's Poetry

The Themes of Loss and Loneliness in Hardy's Poetry

Introduction

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From 1862 to 1867 Hardy worked for an architect in London and later

continued to practice architecture, despite ill health, in Dorset.

Meanwhile, he was writing poetry with little success. He then turned

to novels as more salable, and by 1874 he was able to support himself

by writing. This is also the year that Hardy married his first wife,

Emma Gifford. Their marriage lasted until her death in 1912, which

prompted Hardy to write his collection of poems called Veteris

Vestigiae Flammae (Vestiges of an Old Flame). These poems are some of

Hardy's finest and describe their meeting and his subsequent loss.

In this essay I am going analyse three poems and those three poems

will be "The Voice", "Neutral Tones" and "Where The Picnic Was"

Section 1 - Context

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Thomas Hardy was writing around from 1870 and gave up novel writing in

1895 after receiving harsh criticism. In those times the laws were

very different. For instance women could not vote at all which could

have made a difference if they did vote. After Emma died - which was

Hardy's first wife he wrote poems that were for her or about her when

they were married.

Section 2 - Content, Tone and Theme

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The first poem is "The Voice". The poem is about his wife, Emma and

how he misses her deeply and every sound like the wind blowing reminds

him of Emma's voice. The tone of this poem is sad which reflects on

what Hardy is feeling because this would mean that Hardy is sad as

well. There is also pathetic fallacy used in this poem as well. There

is also natural settings that echoes the mood of sadness and

loneliness and this is an example of the main themes running through

his poems which is loss and loneliness

The second poem is titled "Neutral Tones". This poem is about a

different woman; the woman that he met before he meets Emma and this