The Tragic Tradition and Personal Sadness: "The Going," "Lament," and Emma Gifford Anonymous 12th Grade

In the poetry of Thomas Hardy, one can note that the poet conveys a deep sense of sadness. Throughout his poetry, the Going, for instance, Hardy makes use of authorial methods in order to heighten the tragedy, and thus, allow his poems to convey a melancholic sadness. However, one could argue that Hardy’s poetry, such as Lament in actuality, connotes regret and guilt, mainly in regard to his wife, Emma Gifford, who he ignored and neglected in life, only to realise in death that he mistreated her for the duration of the final period of their marriage.

First of all, Hardy’s poem ‘the Going’ makes use of poetic devices in order to elevate the sadness created. For instance, in line 19-20, the poet bemoans that ‘in darkening dankness and yawning blankness…the perspective sickens me’. The use of a rhyming couplet places great emphasis on the nouns ‘dankness’ and ‘blankness’. These nouns create a negative imagery which is utilised by Hardy in order to enhance the sad nature of the poem; ‘dankness’ connotes a feeling of disgust, possibly toward the poet’s wife, and ‘blankness’ connotes an absence of something, perhaps the absence of love between the poet and the wife mentioned in ‘The Going’. This could refer to the relationship...