All of us have likely had to deal with the loss of a loved one at one point in our lives. If we haven't yet, the fact is inevitable. The degrees of emotion could perhaps be measured by how intimate the relationship, or how much a part of your life the person was before they died. When Thomas Hardy lost his wife Emma in 1912, he, not surprisingly given his huge body of work, wrote a series of lyrics entitled simply "Poems of 1912-13". This set of poems dealt specifically with his feelings, his sense of loss, and the nature of death. Hardy explores the questions with vivid imagery and specific detail, all while maintaining his rhyme and musical writing style. He expresses feelings not as a tribute to his wife but as revelations about death and what it might mean, if anything at all. This paper will analyze what emotions and questions the poems evoke, and which of the 1912-13 series are most effective. To set the framework, we will first address the facts which the writings are based upon. .
In 1912, Emma Hardy was not in the best of health, but it was undoubtedly a surprise to Thomas when she died in her sleep one evening after the couple had entertained friends at a dinner party. Both she and her husband were in their advanced years at the time, having been married for nearly forty years. But for the past few years they had drifted apart yet the marriage remained intact even though it had soured considerably. The first poem in the series entitled "The Going", deals specifically with the suddeness of Emma's death in the first line: "Why quickly did you give no hint that night/ That quickly after the morrow's dawn, / And calmly, as if indifferent quite,.
You would close your term here, up and be gone- The word "indifferent" is carefully placed and is the start of a recurring theme: It's not just Hardy is upset because his wife has died, it's the feelings of regret and sadness for the fact they had become so distant in the last few years of their marriage.
