This poem provides a descriptive account of late-Victorian era London, using rich imagery and literary devices. Hardy refers to the "tawny vapour" of London. The colour tawny is yellow-brown, which provides a good description of the fog and pollution in London. After, Hardy describes the fog's "webby fold on fold," which makes it seem sticky and suffocating. Hardy creates a morose atmosphere with the use of lighting, describing how the "street-lamp glimmers cold."
Hardy powerfully uses pathetic fallacy by using the weather and surroundings to reflect the mood of the poem. A Wife in London is an anti-war poem, about a young woman who receives the news that her husband has been killed in warfare. As such, the bleak setting of London is an appropriate setting for the sombre subject matter.
In a cruel twist of fate, the wife receives a letter from her husband the next day, containing his hopes for the future. He describes his hopes for "home-planned jaunts by brake and burn, in the summer weather." This rural and pastoral setting contrasts with the setting of London. While London is cold, dark and foggy, the husband's idyllic setting contains a stream, greenery, fresh air and warm summer weather. As such, the settings of London and the pastoral symbolize the dark reality and warm hopes for the future, respectively.
