Literary analysis of ‘The Going’ by Thomas Hardy Essay

The Going is a song mourning the ending and loss of sturdys wife Emma. The themes of anguish, love and regret are echoes passim the poem however it is unusual and interesting to n unity that it seems that inflexible is blaming Emma for leaving him and over-romanticizing the time they spent together. The title The Going gives the air that Emmas death was a grand sort of press release.A reader with no knowledge of braves feeling would perhaps quality that Hardy loved and took much care of his wife throughout his life and her departure was grand in that way, however this is not the case. The tidy sum Emma died in illustrated a harsh husband who did not come to his wifes deathbed when the maiden over told him Emma was genuinely ill Hardys grievous poem figure outs the circumstances are very ironic. In the second stanza, Hardy also refers to Emmas death as the great going, which is once again adult the idea that Emmas death was grand like a fag leaving.It is possible th at by glorifying and exalting Emmas death, Hardy is trying to comfort himself approximately the circumstances she died in by writing over the topographic point he may be trying to change the composition of what happened for the reader in rewrite to nock it seem as though he is not the one to blame. Building on the idea that Hardy wants to firing the blame from himself, Hardy throughout the poem asks questions as statements kinda than as real questions. For example, he says Why do you key me leave the mansion / And think for a breath it is you I see Hardy has not ended his sentence with a question mark but rather he has ended with an exclamation mark, suggesting he in reality does not want to ask Emma these questions, instead he wants to tell her how he wants the story to be. By using you in all his questions, the air that Hardy is the victim in this situation rather than Emma. This amplifies upon the idea mentioned above that Hardy may be wanting to write over the sit uation in order to make it seem that he is not the one to blame.A thought of arrogance and self-righteousness is eluded from his desire to shift the blame away from him this may make the speaker seem unlikeable. There is a sensual tone in the poem which works to romanticize the mood of the poem and suggest the joyful past the yoke had in the beginning of their relationship and the happy life they could produce had but didnt. Hardy asks Emma why she did not lip me the softest come up to this is a reference to physical intimacy and could be a coddle or to whispering sweet-nothings.From that suggestion, it would seem like Hardy was always large(p) for much(prenominal) intimacy however this was not the case as the couple were not physically intimate for most of their relationship. There are echoes of their act geezerhood in their youth in the fourth stanza where Hardy describes a younger Emma in flattering and loving terms as the swan-necked one who would muse and eye (him). The idea of Emma eyeing Hardy suggests a shy and wicked Emma sneaking glances at Hardy which evokes empathy in the readers heart for not whole Emma but the combined couple of Emma and Hardy during their courtship.This only adds to the sorrowful public opinion of Emmas death but now by relating their courting days Hardy has not only told the reader of his grief but he has also spread this grief to the reader. Alliteration also adds to the playful feel to the poem, building on the point above. The day is described as change dankness and the alleys as bending boughs this brings the settings to life and illustrates how rich their relationship could have been, thus amplifying the emotion of regret over Emmas going.The head rhyme could also suggest that Hardy is attempting to over-romanticize the situation to such an extent that he is trying to convince himself that their relationship was happy. Another interpretation could that whilst this poem is a sad love poem, Hardys use of p layful head rhyme may be demonstrating that Hardy may not be as sad as he is making out to be throughout the poem because if indeed he was terrible grief-stricken by her loss, he would not have had enough composure to compose the poem with such literary devices which make the poem sound more flowing.Using a device such as alliteration is deliberate and therefore Hardys use of alliteration shows he had enough capability to make use of this technique. The final stanza in the poem has great significance to the poem and its meaning. Hardy uses short sentences and caesuras to demonstrate how harshly Emmas death came about and how harshly their relationship ended. Well, well Alls past improve/Unchangeable. It must go. shows how he seems reluctant to accept that Emma is now dead as the short sentences make it sound as though he is easy trying to make himself accept this fact.Sharp caesuras in this stanza also make it feel as though trying to convince himself Emma is gone is very painfu l. To conclude, Hardy uses literary devices such as alliteration and sensual mental imagery to give a sensual feel to this poem, however the underlying tone and meaning of this poem is a sad and greivious one as highlighted by Hardys use of blame and structure. Short sentences and an inconsistent ryhming schema demonstrate this sad mood.