Hardy's Poetry

Though known to us primarily as a novelist, Hardy was in fact a rather accomplished (and good) poet, and a poem of his may appear on the GRE.

“The Darkling Thrush”

I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.

The land's sharp features seemed to be
The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.

At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An agèd thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.

So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessèd Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.

From: “Channel Firing”

That night your great guns, unawares,
Shook all our coffins as we lay,
And broke the chancel window-squares,
We thought it was the Judgement-day

And sat upright. While drearisome
Arose the howl of wakened hounds:
The mouse let fall the altar-crumb,
The worm drew back into the mounds,

The glebe cow drooled. Till God cried, “No;
It’s gunnery practice out at sea
Just as before you went below;
The world is as it used to be:

“All nations striving strong to make
Red war yet redder. Mad as hatters
They do no more for Christés sake
Than you who are helpless in such matters.

“That this is not the judgment-hour
For some of them’s a blessed thing,
For if it were they’d have to scour
Hell’s floor for so much threatening....

William Thackeray (1811-1863)

An English novelist of the 19th century, he was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a satire of middle-class English society.

Vanity Fair

The title is a reference to John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

The story opens at Miss Pinkerton's Academy for young ladies, where we meet the main characters, Becky Sharp, a strong-willed and cunning young woman determined to make her way in society, and Amelia Sedley, a good natured though simple-minded young girl. The book accompanies Becky and Amelia's life through happy times and sorrowful days between London, Brighton, the countryside and the Battle of Waterloo.

After Amelia's completion of studies at Miss Pinkerton's Academy, she invited her friend Becky to her home. It was there that Miss Sharp met with Amelia's lover George Osborne and her brother, Joseph Sedley, a clumsy and vainglorious official who serves in India. Because of his wealth and status, Becky purposely enticed him and hoped to marry him, though eventually failed as a result of Joseph's shyness and his foolish act in party at Vauxhall.

With the failure of this hope, Becky Sharp said farewell to Sedley's family and headed to baronet Pitt Crawley's home to serve as a governess. Her behaviour at baronet's house gained the favour of Sir Pitt, who eventually proposed to marry Miss Sharp, but was politely rejected.

Sir Pitt's sister, Miss Crawley, was a woman of affluence. Her great wealth was a source of constant conflict between members of Crawley family who fought for her inheritance. Captain Rawdon Crawley, nephew of Miss Crawley, was the inheritor and favourite of her aunt. Miss Sharp succeeded in gaining Rawdon's heart and eloped with him. Miss Crawley, enraged by the elopement because of Becky's low birth, eventually disinherited her nephew.

While Becky Sharp was trying to gain her wealth and status, Amelia's father went bankrupt. Captain George Osborne, persuaded by his friend Dobbin, married Amelia in spite of her poverty and his father's fierce objection.

When all these personal incidents were going on, Napoleon escaped Elba and reorganised his army. George Osborne and William Dobbin were sent to Brussels in order to fight the French army. In Brussels George met with Becky and the disinherited Captain Crawley. The newly wedded Osborne was by now growing tired of Amelia and he became increasingly attracted to Becky, who was now Mrs Crawley.

Before Osborne could run away with Mrs Crawley, he was sent to Waterloo and killed in the battle, leaving behind Amelia and his posthumous son George (same name as his father) in the world. With the death of Osborne, young George's godfather Dobbin gradually expressed more love and concern to Amelia. However, his regiment was dispatched abroad before he could confess his true affection to Amelia.

After the war, Becky and Rawdon Crawley went to Paris; then they returned to London, leaving behind a large amount of debts in France. Becky's obscure relationship with Lord Steyne was discovered by Rawdon, who in a rage abandoned his wife and moved abroad. Mrs Crawley, having lost both husband and status, became a wanderer.

As Amelia's son George grew up his grandfather became fond of him and took him away from his daughter-in-law when her family lacked the money to foster him. Meanwhile both Joseph Sedley and William Dobbin returned to England. Dobbin professed his unchanged love to Amelia, although Amelia was also affectionate to Dobbin, she could not forget the memory of her dead husband and thus refused.

While in England, Dobbin managed a reconciliation between Amelia and her father-in-law. The death of George's grandfather gave Amelia and young George a large fortune.

After the death of old Mr Osborne. Amelia, Joseph, George and Dobbin went on a trip to Germany, where they encountered the destitute Becky. Dobbin again professed his love to Amelia, but was refused again, thus left her.

However, Becky, in a moment of conscience, showed Amelia the note that George (Amelia's dead husband) gave her which asked her to run away with him. This broke George's idealised image in Amelia's mind, thus eventually bringing Dobbin and Amelia together, who happily lived ever after.

Becky resumed her seduction of Joseph Sedley and gained control over him. He eventually died of a suspicious ailment after signing a portion of his money to Becky as life insurance. It is hinted that she may have murdered him to make her fortune.

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