Very Wide Use Of Words example essay topic

The Going This poem by Thomas Hardy is a monologue that is written to his first wife Emma reproaching her for having left so suddenly. Even though this poem is written for his wife if a few specifications are removed it would seem that the poem could be written about anybody who had died. This poem goes through the whole process of mourning from realising that she is gone forever (stanza 1), denial like the references to haunting (stanza 2), regret for not having spent more time together (Stanza 3) to finally acceptance (stanza 5). From the quickly changing emotional tones between stanzas we can guess that Hardy wrote this poem a considerable time after her death so that he could have experienced all these stages. The structure of this poem is a somewhat even one. The poem is composed of six stanzas each containing seven lines.

The 5th and the 6th line are the always the smallest lines in the stanza and these are used to stress these ideas. In these two lines there is also a separate rhyme that is different to ones used in the rest of the stanza and there is usually alliteration or some sound emphasis. This makes them very important lines. Overall the author tries to convey through these lines seem to lead to a climax that is concluded in the last line. The overall tone of the poem is a changing one. The tone of the poem changes as the author focuses on a new stage after his wife dies.

The first two stanzas describe his incredulity over her death. The tone here is disbelief and maybe even a little bit of anger. He uses words such as 'indifferent' to imply that she was unfeeling to have gone and left him. His anger is shown in the use of words such as 'morning harden upon the wall'. The third stanza talks about her haunting him. This is a topic that Hardy uses a lot in his poems and through it expresses his almost obsession for her.

He says that she is haunting him to excuse his thoughts and overwhelming feelings. It also helps him think that his feelings are corresponded and also keeps her alive in spite of her being gone. The tone of this stanza is in a way desperate. He doesn't want to have hopes that she is still alive and shows this by saying that 'the perspective sickens me'. The next stage that he goes through also brings with it a change of tone as shown in the 4th and 5th stanzas.

He goes on to express his regret at not having spent more time with her. He feels repentant for their breech and wishes that he had ratified it. The last stage seems to be the acceptance that she is really gone and can't come back but at the same time it admits that her passing caused him the worst type of pain. The tone of the stanza seems to be a conflict of feelings. He recognises that things are in the past but is reluctant to let her go completely. This poem doesn't have an overall tone because of the various stages after her death described.

The fact that there are so many changing tones gives in a sense a lack of deep coherent emotional feelings. There is a whole gamut of them from melancholy to anger to semi acceptance but the most common tone seems to be regret at not having resolved their differences. Hardy uses the changing tone as a characteristic to manipulate the minds of the readers into feeling a sense of connection with his loss. Another trait that Hardy also uses a lot is sound.

The rhyme of this poem contributes in a major part to this. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCB. This regular rhyme makes it sound as though it is a sort of ballad that can be sung. It may be a cover up for what the poet is really feeling or used as irony to show that when his wife was there he never appreciated her and now he misses her. The rhythm is also regular except for in some parts where it breaks down to emphasize words for example in the first stanza the stressed words are 'up and be gone' this is the first time that he mentions death in the poem and the poet intends this to be dramatic and at the same time show the passing of life.

An aspect of sound that Hardy tries to use a lot is alliteration. He uses alliteration in the words 'unknowing, unmoved' for example to make the rhythm flow and to support the meaning of these words. In this case the meaning of the phrase is to show that he didn't have a clue and the alliteration combined with the part repetition shows his surprise and to some extent stupefaction. Hardy's concern for making the poem flow is sometimes excessive for example the alliteration 'With Wing of Swallow' is clearly a case where it seems as though his concern for alliteration superseded the actual content of the poem. This is only done this once and it seems as though after this there is not excessive use of alliteration. This poem uses more the changes in tone to communicate the meaning than imagery but in some cases imagery is used.

The first important phrase showing imagery is 'saw morning harden on the wall'. This shows that the morning seems to have been reflected harshly on the wall. This might shows that the sun is shining hard or the word 'hardening' gives a very harsh connotation and might actually be a sign that he should have noticed. This might imply a hint that she had given him but he didn't understand it. The use of the words 'yawning blankness' also helps to show a dark cave where he is not sure where he is going. The author might want to show that this dark cave is his life in which he cannot see anymore because she is not there.

The most significant use of imagery seems to be shown in 'In this bright spring weather'. This is a combination of imagery and of pathetic fallacy where the author uses the weather in context to communicate the mood. The spring might also signify his life when he was young and when it was happy. It also implies that when she was with him his life was happy. This would also be a use of the seasons to describe the stages in his life where spring is the stage when he is young and happy. To describe the different phases there is a very wide use of words to give more implications.

The use of metaphors is especially abundant. One of the first metaphors is 'close your term'. This is almost a euphemism because it seems as though the author doesn't want to say that she is dead and instead says she has closed her term. It also implies that there is a next term and in a way life after death. In the last stanza the poet says that he is going to 'sink down soon' which is also a euphemism for death except his death seems to have a sense of complete finality and suffocation. The use of the dots after this gives the line suspense and dramatic ending.

This might be a fear of death of just a sceptical view of life while in the first euphemism there seems to be continuity. This is linked to the topic of haunting that he refers to frequently in his poems. He says that she is the pone haunting him and this seems as denial or merely a defence mechanism to not express his real emotions. Words such as 'bending boughs' could also be used to signify that as he seems to be getting closer to her she seems to be getting farther away.

The use of the word 'sickens' doesn't seem to be the type of word that is normally used when people talk about their dead loved ones and could again be denial. In the second stanza the poet uses soft words such as 'lip me', 'softest call' or 'utter a wish' to make it sound like an echo that the wife sends back from the past to haunt him. The only direct description of her is in the 4th stanza 'swan-necked one's how ing her as a beautiful and graceful person. This is the only direct reference made about her. This also makes him think about what he has missed and how he regrets it. The purpose of this poem is more of a very personal motive.

The author doesn't want to teach the world something but to write a monologue to look at him in introspect. This poem seems a way to let go of his feelings. This is a catharsis and it is when through writing or some artistic form a person releases all their feelings and because of this from the poem we can learn much about the poet. In dealing with her death he seems to blame many things on her such as the fact that she went suddenly and that he hears her voice.

His main way of dealing with the loss seems to be putting up a wall and resorting to denial. He might have really loved his wife but let this love slip away and now regrets it. After she is gone he realises the necessity of moving on but doesn't seem to be able to. He realises that he will also soon slip away and recognises that he wasted his life. I think that this poem is a very good poem because of its ideas.

He does probe into all the phases people go through after a person close to them dies. Although all the stages are covered the brevity of the poem leads to some extent to superficiality when dealing with the real, deep, inner, feelings. The rapidly moving rhythm and the even rhyme also mislead a reader but in analysis explain his reactions of denial and scepticism towards life. Use of sound is also very good but can sometimes get excessive, disrupting the poems overall meaning. The poem is written in a very universal way meaning that anybody who has lost a person close to them will be able to relate to the feelings and this makes the poem quite successful in that aspect.