Loss as the Driving Force of Hardys Poetic Creativity

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Loss as the Driving Force of Hardys Poetic Creativity

Loss in Hardys poems are portrayed in many ways Hardys poetry is

constantly wistful and elegiac in tone, and despite some hints of

humour the poems remain focused on the disappointments of mans search

for love and how he looses it. His love poems are fatalistic; they

deal with love falling apart over time 'At Castle Boterel over a short

period of time this 'change is the transitory nature of love. The

change, which he writes about, comes in different forms, change of

peoples feelings for each other, love ending due to death or peoples

visions for their future together. In any case, although love changes

everything in nature stays the same. Loves power for good does not

really exist in Hardy's poetry, it may feel good at the time however,

when it ends it makes people feel nostalgic and sad and perhaps they

think about their relationships.

Most of the love poems that Hardy wrote were based on his own

experiences, which is the main reason why his poems are about love

faltering over time as well as the basic losses, which follow. I feel

he actually wants people to know about his losses. It could be because

he does not want people to make the same mistakes. After the death of

his spouse Emma, he questioned his long and unsuccessful marriage,

regretting his lack of passion as explored in the final lines of

'After a Journey. Hardy writes about marriage as a reluctant

compromise between two people.

I have decided to concentrate on three main poems: 'At Castle

Boterel', 'The Voice' and a poem that I found interesting while doing

some background work called 'After a journey'. As these poems best

help show how Hardys loss is the real driving force behind his

creativity.

'At Castle Boterel' is written mostly in a sombre and sad tone, then

becoming philosophical and finally regretful in the last stanza. Hardy

is recalling a romantic encounter with a past lover which "filled but

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