A Wife In London Analysis

Author: poem of Thomas Hardy Type: poem Views: 64

December 1899

I

She sits in the tawny vapour
That the Thames-side lanes have uprolled,
Behind whose webby fold-on-fold
Like a waning taper
The street-lamp glimmers cold.

A messenger's knock cracks smartly,
Flashed news in her hand
Of meaning it dazes to understand
Though shaped so shortly:
He--he has fallen--in the far South Land...

II

'Tis the morrow; the fog hangs thicker,
The postman nears and goes:
A letter is brought whose lines disclose
By the firelight flicker
His hand, whom the worm now knows:

Fresh--firm--penned in highest feather--
Page-full of his hoped return,
And of home-planned jaunts of brake and burn
In the summer weather,
And of new love that they would learn.

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||| Analysis | Critique | Overview Below |||

.: :.

'His hand, whom the worm now knows' this line is alluring to the waste of life which is now buried in the soil, his hand, that the worm 'now knows'.

| Posted on 2009-06-05 | by a guest

.: :.

The parenthesis and elipses show the reader how the wife already knew he was dead without reading the small amount of context in the informal letter.

| Posted on 2009-06-05 | by a guest

.: :.

Hardy does not show the wifes feelings maybe because he thinks the readers imagination is stronger than if he wrote it down.

| Posted on 2009-05-18 | by a guest

.: :.

Each line is delivered in a punchy, defined manner. It is distinctly 'British', yet conveys the tragic normality of such grief at that time.

| Posted on 2009-03-11 | by a guest

.: :.

The harsh contrast in mood between the 3rd and 4th stanzas creates an emphasized sense of waste of the young couples love.

| Posted on 2009-02-22 | by a guest

.: :.

the harsh onomatopoeic sound of "knock" breaks the silence.

| Posted on 2009-02-08 | by a guest

.: :.

this poem explains the loss felt by a family member of a solider killed during the beor war, it explains how she is defeated and saddend by the message and the delayed post, message from her husband makes the situation worse, this was common during this war and almost everyone knew or had been close to a fallen soldier

| Posted on 2008-11-15 | by a guest

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