Works of Thomas Hardy discussion

The day is turning ghost,
And scuttles from the kalendar in fits and furtively,
To join the anonymous host
Of those that throng oblivion; ceding his place, maybe,
To one of like degree.

I part the fire-gnawed logs,
Rake forth the embers, spoil the busy flames, and lay the ends
Upon the shining dogs;
Further and further from the nooks the twilight's stride extends,
And beamless black impends.

Nothing of tiniest worth
Have I wrought, pondered, planned; no one thing asking blame or
praise,
Since the pale corpse-like birth
Of this diurnal unit, bearing blanks in all its rays -
Dullest of dull-hued Days!

Wanly upon the panes
The rain slides as have slid since morn my colourless thoughts; and
yet
Here, while Day's presence wanes,
And over him the sepulchre-lid is slowly lowered and set,
He wakens my regret.

Regret—though nothing dear
That I wot of, was toward in the wide world at his prime,
Or bloomed elsewhere than here,
To die with his decease, and leave a memory sweet, sublime,
Or mark him out in Time . . .

—Yet, maybe, in some soul,
In some spot undiscerned on sea or land, some impulse rose,
Or some intent upstole
Of that enkindling ardency from whose maturer glows
The world's amendment flows;

But which, benumbed at birth
By momentary chance or wile, has missed its hope to be
Embodied on the earth;
And undervoicings of this loss to man's futurity
May wake regret in me.

This poem comes from Hardy’s second volume of poetry Poems of the Past and the Present.

It is another poem that is not widely anthologized. I love the language in it. The imagery comes out so clearly, as if in complete opposition to the commonplace.

But I find this poem not easy to understand, and so half or more of my wish in posting it is for members here to help me understand it.

Of the wording in this poem, I like:

Fire-gnawed logs.
Busy flames.
Shining dogs.
Impulse rose (seems like a flower and a movement together).
Dull-hued days.
Sepulchre-lid.
Benumbed at birth.
Undervoicings.
Twilight’s stride.

The narrator has regrets that nothing notable has happened during a rainy day, but hopes it was an important day for someone else in an unknown place. But he uses such glorious language in describing the dull day that we have to wonder if it really was that dull and commonplace. He's writing in present tense so composing this beautiful poem was certainly a notable event!

I like the beautiful imagery that you pointed out, John, especially the language he uses for the fire.

This isn't a poem I knew, and I have to say it felt full of foreboding and sent a shiver down my spine. That's mainly due to the gothic words Thomas Hardy has selected:

"The day is turning ghost,
And scuttles from the kalendar in fits and furtively",

Then in the second stanza we have "fire-gnawed" and "beamless black"

It continues with an even more gothic feel in the 3rd stanza with "pale corpse-like birth ... Dullest of dull-hued"

And cranking it up in this vein in the 4th, with "sepulchre-lid is slowly lowered"

Gosh, I would not want to read this on a dark Winter's evening, just before bed! 😮😨 Yes, as you say John, the imagery is superb 😊

Thank you so much for starting our poetry slot again, with this very effective poem. It's now linked to our list.

It also serves as a reminder that our day, gloomy and unproductive, is not indicative of everyone's day. Perhaps there is a choice we have made in our spending of it, and that is what engenders the regret at the end.

I rather like "choice" engendering regret, that fits very well with this poem. I also really liked Connie's observation that writing this beautiful poem on a rainy day refutes the mundanity theme. And I agree with Jean there is a ghostly feel to the whole piece. This is another wonderful poem, that should be read more widely. Thank you John!! I just love the language. You all highlighted the best parts. My absolute favorite was "beamless black impends".

I too get a little confused by parts of this poem. What are "shining dogs"?

And what do these two lines mean:

Regret—though nothing dear
That I wot of, was toward in the wide world at his prime,

I'm stumped . . . "that I wot of" - what is that??

I really liked the imagery of fire and darkness. It made me think of Prometheus. How his gift of fire to mankind lead to advances in technology and knowledge, things that are the opposite of the "mundane". The poem starts sadly with a fire being put out, but then ends with these lines:

"Of that enkindling ardency from whose maturer glows
The world's amendment flows;"

Which does feel hopeful for mankind. Change is still possible. The fire is still glowing, there are still embers.

Bridget wrote: "that I wot of" - what is that?? ..."

"wot" is used in Old English to mean "know" - as in knowing a fact.

If you google "hearth fire dogs" and click images you can see lots of different sorts. Perhaps their "shining" reflects the flames, if they are made of brass rather than iron?

One of the things I enjoy about Hardy is looking through poems that are not generally anthologized. I think this poem would count as one and certainly his tribute to William Barnes is another one.

When I was a sophomore English major in college, I had a class on Modern British Literature taught by Dr. Norman T. Gates. If anyone looked the part of an English Professor it was Dr. Gates — courtly with cardigans is my memory.

We used the Oxford Anthology of Modern British Literature and I was always struck by the fact that the anthology began with 30 poems by Hardy. I had not previously experienced Hardy at all and only knew him as a Victorian novelist. It was a good class and we learned our Hardy.

This adds to the irony of Thomas Hardy being removed from the school National Curriculum in England, about 18 months ago. 🤔

We read both Hardy and Dickens each year in High School, but I do not remember any emphasis on his poetry in either High School or College classes. I am enjoying these lesser known choices, John.

When I was in high school, Great Expectations was basically required reading. A Christmas Carol usually fell into that, too, but my recollection was mostly as attending a performance of it. I do remember being enthralled with Great Expectations. Hardy did not come into my view until college and it was only the poetry.

I read The Mayor of Casterbridge and Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure while in high school. Admittedly, Jude was an AP class.

As you know Sara, we never studied Charles Dickens at school, as he was not considered "literary" enough. We did however have both "O" and "A" level (i.e. 16 and 18 years old) set texts on different Thomas Hardy novels, and while I was at school I read several others too, as I liked them so much.

So it was quite a shock to read that he is not now studied in any school in England, even as an option which the teacher can choose! Various members of the Thomas Hardy Society were up in arms, but their official position is that they are "disappointed" that he is no longer studied in schools in his own country. 🥹

I don't know what sophomore or AP are, but I suspect the school curriculum in the US will vary from state to state, (from what I've read about banned books) if not even more locally too.

The removal of Thomas Hardy from the English school curriculum came after I'd taken on modship here, and it seemed so peculiar that two of my favourite Victorian authors who I'd selected to read more closely for GR, should have - within my lifetime - been considered not worth reading!

I'm very much enjoying these lesser known choices too, John, thank you.

I also find it shocking, Jean. I am not familiar with the current curriculum for schools here, but I am positive the reading choices are much more limited and less strenuous than ours were because I saw that happening even when my grandchildren were in school.

Sophomore year in high school is second year (first year being freshman) typically 15 year olds--or second year of college. AP is college prep and not required for those who opt for standard curriculum.

Thanks. All very different as your schools and colleges also seem to begin at different ages 🤔

Bionic Jean wrote: "Bridget wrote: "="that I wot of" - what is that?? ..."

"wot" is used in Old English to mean "know" - as in knowing a fact.

If you google "hearth fire dogs" and click images you can see lots of di..."

Thanks for the explanations, Jean!! that helps.

I enjoyed the school discussion. It brought back memories of my last year in high school and what turned out to be my favorite literature class. The instructor had latitude on what to teach. So we studied, as I recall: Dante, Dickens, Machiavelli, Voltaire, Swift, Twain, and Orwell. It was a great class.

Sounds like a great class, John. I have always felt blessed by the teachers and material that was covered in my high school days. I had a public education that was excellent.

Sara wrote: "Sounds like a great class, John. I have always felt blessed by the teachers and material that was covered in my high school days. I had a public education that was excellent."

Same for me, Sara, and I feel blessed by my public school teachers.