Thomas Hardy composed this poem in 1866 at the age of 26. It was not published until1898. Poetry was his second career while being a novelist came first. He dedicated 30 years to each. He was a part of the Wessex community and an architect by trade restoring churches. His work was the discontinuities of the Victorian era into the Modern era. No two poems had the same structure of stanzas. Hap is a poem from his Wessex Poems.
The poem is written as an English sonnet. The fourteen lines are recorded in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme abab, cdcd, efef, and gg. The first 4 stanzas talks of god calling him, but doubt is drawn because he does not have the word god capitalized. “If but some vengeful god would call to me from up the sky” (1073). The individual doing the talking is not calling to offer support, but to add to his suffering. “and laugh:”Thou suffering thing, know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy, that thy love’s loss is my hate’s profiting” (1073). The poem continues with no understanding or concern for his suffering, but does imply they are enjoying his torment. “Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I had willed and meted me the tears I shed” (1073).
Hardy is pessimism with no religious faith that has the belief that if there is a God, he does not concede man existence or profess any feelings toward him. If things are bad, they will get worse. This is based off past experiences.
Gerald Hopkins and Thomas Hardy were architects, poets, and novelists. Hopkins believed in God. His poetry was intense, while Hardy was simple and to the point. He used a standard structure for his poems and Hardy was unique.
After reading this poem by Hardy, it made me think that his lack of love from his parents created his doubt of the belief in God. He was taught all the subjects of life, but never that of love. In a family environment, parents must instill certain criteria to their children. They retain these criteria because it is constant and always present. One’s faith or belief in God is also a lesson; a lesson learned over time. There are times in ones life when problems take over our existence, but in time those problems decrease or evaporate completely. I wonder if he ever gave God a chance.
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Bianca,
ReplyDeleteThis post is best when it focuses on the text and quotes and discusses specific, important passages from Hardy's "Hap." Most of this post, though, does not provide this focus and analysis, but generalizes (sometimes with no supporting evidence) on Hardy's life and upbringing. These unsupported assertions, as well as the errors in syntax and punctuation, detract from the overall success of this post.
Bianca,
ReplyDeleteYou make some interesting points in this blog as well as ask some interesting questions. I wish you would have quoted Hopkins a little and gave some quotes from Hardy for the conclusions you are making in your final paragraph. You have made some good improvements though throughout your “blogging”.
I do believe that Hardy does give God a chance. This is evident when Hardy references his “pilgrimage” (1073, verse 14). I think it’s not that he lacks faith, but that life’s cruelties justify his reason for the non-existence of a “vengeful god” (verse 1). If such a god exists, he would only “bear it, clench [himself], and die” (verse 5). His acceptance of such a god is very depressing and extremely painful as if he had no will or choice. Of course, he explicitly states that there does not exist a vengeful god in the 9th verse, “But not so,” which lead to his final conclusion that it was by mere chance that sufferings exists in the world. Some people are born lucky, while other’s born in the midst of tragedy and pain.
ReplyDeleteI had a slightly different view of this piece by Hardy. From the first stanza, I grasped that he does indeed believe there is some divine being, perhaps not the God of the Bible because, as you said, he doesn't capitalize the word. But he does seem to think that his life will end only to find out that the high and powerful being's only enjoyment was causing him pain. THis, to me, is a somewhat agnostic view on religion, he does believe there is some higher power, but doesn't want to associate with it or acknowledge it as his own. And you are right, there is a really good chance that his emotions for this piece are stemmed from bad experiences while growing up.
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