Afterwards by Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy - Introduction

Thomas Hardy was a notable poet, short story writer, and novelist, born on June 2, 1840, in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset. The son of a village stonemason, Hardy is associated with the Naturalist literary movement. Initially trained in architecture, he eventually pursued a career in literature, returning to his first love, poetry, later in life. Hardy published seven volumes of verse, beginning with "Wessex Poems" in 1898, a collection that spanned three decades of his work. Despite his significant poetic contributions, he gained greater fame for his novels, many of which were serialized in magazines and set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex. His writing often reflected a declining rural society and the harsh realities of life.

Hardy married Emma Gifford in 1874, but after her death in 1912, he wrote a poignant series of poems titled "Poems 1912-1913" in her memory. In 1914, he married his secretary, Florence Emily Dugdale, who was 39 years his junior. Hardy died in 1928 at Max Gate, and his funeral was held at Westminster Abbey.

Hardy was deeply influenced by poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with Wordsworth's "The Leechgatherer" being particularly significant to him. His first unpublished novel, "The Poor Man and the Lady," was written in 1867. Some of his well-known poems, such as "Neutral Tones" and "A Broken Appointment," explore themes of disappointment in love and life. Other notable poems include "Ah! Are You Digging on My Grave," "An August Midnight," "The Dynasts," and "The Darkling Thrush." D.H. Lawrence wrote a study on Hardy, and his influence extended to later poets like Philip Larkin. Hardy's extensive body of work and his focus on the struggles of rural life continue to resonate with readers and scholars alike.

Poem - Afterwards

When the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay,
     And the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings,
Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk, will the neighbours say,
     "He was a man who used to notice such things"? 

If it be in the dusk when, like an eyelid's soundless blink,
     The dewfall-hawk comes crossing the shades to alight
Upon the wind-warped upland thorn, a gazer may think,
     "To him this must have been a familiar sight."

If I pass during some nocturnal blackness, mothy and warm,
     When the hedgehog travels furtively over the lawn,
One may say, "He strove that such innocent creatures should
        come to no harm,
     But he could do little for them; and now he is gone."

If, when hearing that I have been stilled at last, they stand at
        the door,
     Watching the full-starred heavens that winter sees,
Will this thought rise on those who will meet my face no more,
     "He was one who had an eye for such mysteries"?

And will any say when my bell of quittance is heard in the gloom,
     And a crossing breeze cuts a pause in its outrollings,
Till they rise again, as they were a new bell's boom,
     "He hears it not now, but used to notice such things?"

Poem Analysis 

The poem takes the form of Hardy imagining his own death and what impressions neighbors and observers might have of him afterwards. It is structured into 5 quatrain (4 line) stanzas, with no strict rhyme scheme or meter, though an iambic rhythm is loosely followed. 


Each stanza follows a similar pattern, the first 1-2 lines set up the imagined time and season of Hardy's death "When the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay," "If it be in the dusk when, like an eyelid's soundless blink" . Hardy then vividly describes details from nature associated with that time of year through rich imagery and word choice "the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings, / Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk," "the dewfall-hawk comes crossing the shades to alight / Upon the wind-warped upland thorn"). The stanza closes with Hardy wondering if neighbors will remark on how he was a person attuned to noticing such natural details and sights.


The use of consonance, rhyme, and texture in Hardy's nature descriptions is particularly striking ("glad green leaves...wings...filmed...silk"). His diction creates vivid tactile impressions. The changing tenses, from present to future to past, reflect the eternal cycle of nature juxtaposed with the fleeting nature of an individual human life. Hardy employs the device of personification, wondering if neighbors will refer to him in the past tense as "He" who appreciated nature's mysteries.

Underlying the poem is the idea that while Hardy's contemporaries may only recognize his deep connection to the natural world in a superficial way after his death, he himself experienced and cherished those moments of nature with a transcendent awareness. The poem's form of imagining impressions from after he is gone allows Hardy to elevate the simple glories of the changing seasons as a lasting reminder of how he felt about the world around him.


Thank you.