Pre 1914 Poetry

English GCSE Coursework – Pre1914 Poetry

How does Hardy portray the themes of loss and loneliness in his poems?

I am going to be comparing three of Thomas Hardy’s poems. These poems

are: Where The Picnic Was, The Voice and Neutral Tones.

Hardy was writing in a time when women could not vote. Women were

second-class citizens who mainly stayed in the home. During the time

when Hardy was writing, it was very difficult for a woman to divorce a

man. The only way the woman would be able to divorce the man was only

if she could prove cruelty. However, unlike women, a man could divorce

his wife just like that with a minor reason. Thomas Hardy himself

believed in marriage but only if people had similar interests. If

people grew apart, he believed that they should be allowed to divorce.

Hardy married twice in his lifetime. In 1874, Hardy married Emma

Lavinia Gifford. She convinced him to start writing. Emma Hardy could

not have children but still, Hardy continued the marriage without

divorcing. On November 27th 1912, Emma Hardy died after being married

for 38 years. Two years later, Hardy married his secretary, Florence

Emily Dugdale. She was 35 and he was 74. She acted as his companion

and housekeeper. The poems I have chosen to compare were all written

after Emma’s death.

Where The Picnic Was is basically talking about a picnic he had been

on with Emma. He explains how it was in a secluded area were hardly

anyone went. The title suggests happy as you normally go for a picnic

in summer or spring, it also suggests that he went with someone like

family or someone he was in love with, it mainly suggests love, but it

also suggest looking back because of the ‘was’ in the title. All the

poems do not contain the same content but overall relate to the death

of Emma and looking back at good times. The mood of this poem changes

as it goes on. In the first verse of the poem, it is a happy mood, but

gradually the mood changes in verse 2 and in verse 3, the mood is

oriented on the death of Emma and less on natural setting. Happiness

in the first verse is shown in this quote. ‘In the summer time’.

The sadness in the third verse is shown in this quote, ‘Where no

picnics are, And one – has shut her eyes’.

This reflects how Hardy is feeling because this is a one of the things

he uses to reflect his mood. The theme of this poem is a place of