Over Hardy’s lifetime, he published roughly a thousand poems, including some of the great poems of World War I, as well as today’s selection, elegizing the wife of a defeated Member of Parliament.
After the publication of his final novel, “Jude the Obscure,” in 1895, Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) devoted himself to poetry. His “Wessex Poems,” appearing in 1898, drew on the same Dorset landscape that formed the backdrop for his novels. Over the next three decades he would produce seven more collections of poetry. Over his lifetime, he published roughly a thousand poems, including some of the great poems of World War I, as well as today’s selection, “The Rejected Member’s Wife.” In this poem, which appeared in the Spectator in 1906, three trimeter octets in abab lines elegize the wife of a defeated Member of Parliament. As she fades, Cheshire-Cat-like, from public life, waving “her little hand” in its white glove, she begins to appear as human woman, visible, with “that chestnut hair.”
Already have a subscription? Sign in to continue reading
By JOSH HAMMER
|
By NEWT GINGRICH
|
By DAVID JONES
|Cancel anytime
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
