"Just the Same" and "Tess of D"Urbervilles" ultimately share the same themes and viewpoints. This is most likely due to the fact that both the poem and the novel were written by Thomas Hardy. Both these pieces of work from Hardy are incredibly distressing. "Hope would never hail again" - (line 1) "Just the Same." It is apparent that doom and gloom are the predominant themes in "Just the Same" and "Tess of D"Urbervilles." As the reader goes through both the poem and the novel, the reader will find that the light at the end of the tunnel is turned off right from the beginning. No light appears to be coming anytime soon and the slightest glimmer of hope is non-existent. "The beauty and dream was gone, and the halo in which I had hied, so gaily gallantly on, had suffered blot and died." (lines 6-8) "Just the Same." It is also safe to concur that Hardy sees nothing in life greater than hardship, grief, and calamity. "Did you say the stars were worlds, Tess?" "Yes." "Which do we live on - a splendid one or a blighted one?" "A blighted one." - (p.31) "Tess of D"Urbervilles." Line four of "Just the Same" draws similarities to these quotes: "The world was a darkened den." Another theme shared by both pieces of work is death. Although it is incredibly difficult to read Hardy's work without feeling the full effect of depression, it is sometimes important to view the world through different points of view in order to keep us grounded. .
