Works of Thomas Hardy discussion

Now that my page upcloses, doomed, maybe,
Never to press thy cosy cushions more,
Or wake thy ready Yeas as heretofore,
Or stir thy gentle vows of faith in me:

Knowing thy natural receptivity,
I figure that, as flambeaux banish eve,
My sombre image, warped by insidious heave
Of those less forthright, must lose place in thee.

So be it. I have borne such. Let thy dreams
Of me and mine diminish day by day,
And yield their space to shine of smugger things;
Till I shape to thee but in fitful gleams,
And then in far and feeble visitings,
And then surcease. Truth will be truth alway.

This poem comes from Wessex Poems and Other Verses, which was published in 1898 and was his first published collection of poetry. What I will do is try to go chronologically with his published poetry volumes.

Some of the poems date back to his youth. In the preface to this work, Hardy wrote that only four of the poems had ever been published. It is likely this poem was one of the later poems — perhaps published after Tess of the D’Urbervilles or Jude the Obscure.

Hardy clearly loved writing poetry. And I think this poem works as a reminder that the novels told truths as good as the poems — and vice versa. Especially since poetry would be his vocation for the rest of his days. He was 60 years old when these poems were published.

I like his first book of poems because, like this poem, most of them seem to say that what will be will be. He might also be saying that it does not matter what I write, or whether you like it or not, because there will always be a higher truth than either of us.

As odd as it may sound, given the gentle back and forth you see in this poem, I view it as a love poem to a reader.

The narrator seems to feel that it will be unimportant that the reader disliked his work as time goes by because the truth of what he wrote will remain.

Truth will be truth alway.

The cozy cushions suggests the lady might be wealthy. It's making me wonder what she disliked in Hardy's writing since some people find him too pessimistic. There was also some controversy after the publication of Jude the Obscure.

Thanks for sharing the poem with the group, John.

I needed clarification with two words in this poem. Flambeaux is a flaming torch and surcease is another way to say come to an end or discontinue.

I can see cozy cushion as another way of saying or implying opulence, so I agree, Connie.

An interesting poem. It took me a while to get the tone and pacing of the words. Thanks so much, John and Connie, for going over the language and what it means.

"Opulence" is exactly the right word to describe this poem! The main impression I had at the end was the lush language, and I had to read it again to get the meaning! I may well have been lost without the title.

Yes I agree, it must surely have been written in response to the negative response by some to his final two novels. I feel his pain at "I have borne such" and also his stoicism with "Truth will be truth alway".

Thanks John - linking now.

The first two lines remind me of a large hardcover book — and it gets upclosed. Which is not a word I heard before, but if you think of someone sitting with a book and then closes it quickly, then I see the image of upclose. And the word doomed is sitting literally nearby, as if to say that’s it, I’m done.

Oh, this is sad. Beautifully sad. He feels the reader losing faith in him, and foresees the diminishing, the "far and feeble visitings," the ultimate ending (of the relationship between writer and reader).

I see what you mean about it feeling like a love poem to a reader, John. And like a love poem, I guess, you can hear the doubt and hurt in his voice, as he attempts to explain maybe?

Thank you for this one, John!