Works of Thomas Hardy discussion

"I had a holiday once," said the woman—
Her name I did not know—
"And I thought that where I'd like to go,
Of all the places for being jolly,
And getting rid of melancholy,
Would be to a good big fair:
And I went. And it rained in torrents, drenching
Every horse, and sheep, and yeoman,
And my shoulders, face, and hair;
And I found that I was the single woman
In the field—and looked quite odd there!
Everything was spirit-quenching:
I crept and stood in the lew of a wall
To think, and could not tell at all
What on earth made me plod there!"

I came across this poem as I was looking for holiday type poems. And I saw the word holiday. But, alas, holiday here means vacation — or so I think.

The poem has an expectation feel to it, much like the great Christmas poem The Oxen. So I wanted to add it to our reads.

There is forbearance, questioning, and joy — despite the weather. This sort of, to me, had an uplifting feel to it. As perhaps it should be for this time of year?

Today was also the first time I recall ever reading this poem. It can be nice encountering something new.

The title of this poem was fitting since the woman's expectation for her holiday was so different than her experience which was "spirit-quenching." She seems like an upbeat person, someone who can turn lemons into lemonade, so she turned her experience into an amusing tale.

Thanks, John, for introducing us to this poem.

I find Hardy’s poems to be uneven at times. I wonder if he would have considered this poem a throwaway? By that I mean it seems the most basic of poems when compared to poems like During Wind and Rain.

This poem has the feel of something he composed before breakfast and then went on to more challenging things.

Yes, in England we use the word "holiday" where the US might use "vacation"; that word is more formal. So a common polite question when getting to know someone is "Are you going somewhere nice for your summer holiday?"

I would never have guessed this was by Thomas Hardy! It seem so atypical.

Thanks John 😊

This makes me think of the saying which is something like "it is better to travel than to arrive". We can all empathise with this I think, when something much anticipated proves to be a washout (and on this occasion, quite literally).

When Thomas Hardy was writing, the ordinary people he wrote about would have just one holiday a year, just a few days off work, and if they were lucky they might go away somewhere. But it would always be in this country, and often to the seaside where there are fairs. Seaside entertainments became all the rage in Victorian and Edwardian times, and it's likely that this young woman looked forward all year to her trip.

Yet British weather is notorious for being changeable and rainy. I've had many a week's holiday in the summer when it has rained every day!

Now linked.

Thank you for that perspective, Jean. I had heard of seaside entertainments being all the rage. (We talked about that when we read "An Imaginative Woman"!) I had not made the connection that this kind of fair might also be at the seaside.

Connie, I see what you mean about this woman making lemons out of lemonade. Thanks for helping me see that. I had trouble deciding how to read her initially. I can read that last line as her laughing at herself, but I also got a hint of earlier sadness when she talked about "getting rid of melancholy." I also loved the phrase "spirit-quenching" for being caught in the rain!

That start-stop at the beginning, when the story is interrupted by a speaker that we never hear from again, is an interesting choice: "Her name I did not know". We never get to know the speaker, and we never learn this woman's name. That seems oddly modern to me, like hearing a snippet of conversation at an airport.

The rhyme structure seems irregular, too: ABBCCDEADADEGGD, with some of the rhymes being repeat words.

I am glad to have read it. Thanks for introducing us to this, John!

Thanks for pointing out the rhyme structure, Jennifer. It is rather unique.

Thanks for sharing, John. Like Jean, I was reading it and thinking, this isn't a Hardy poem because the whole feel is different from those that I have read so far.

Jean:

Just got off the train from Boston to Philadelphia and let me turn the
phrase around: It's better to ARRIVE than to travel, especially during the great Thanksgiving rush!

😂 Donald! Ah, well Thomas Hardy probably never experienced anything approaching that sort of "rush hour" ... but I think the charabancs for outings might have got a bit crowded!