Vivek Bheeroo

14/08/11

Analysis of The Voice by Thomas Hardy The voice is a poem written by Thomas Hardy in December 1912, shortly after the death of his wife. Hardy talks about how he is really missing her and that her death has left a big void in Hardys life, resulting in the latter falling into depression. His mental balance is left to ponder about as he starts to hear her voice again. Throughout the poem, Hardy uses many techniques in order to show his feelings and emotions. These different techniques shall be discussed throughout the essay. The very first line of the first stanza starts off with alliteration; Woman much missed, .This alliteration stresses on the m sound and has been deliberately plugged into the poem in order to show to the reader that he dearly misses his wife and that his love was not and will never be superficial. In the very same line, a second technique has been used by Hardy; how you call to me, call to me,. This time around, Hardy employs repetition to stress on the fact that his wife might be communicating with him, and this idea makes him jovial. His joviality is accentuated by the fact that the wife returning to her original personality, the personality which caused Hardy to fall in love with. This piece of information can therefore point out that the wife eventually changed personalities during her lifetime, which may have caused tensions between the two. This might be a reason why Hardy so deeply regrets the death of his wife. The author ends his first stanza with a caesura. This might suggest a change in idea. This is indeed the case since, having a closer look at stanza one, the reader will spot that Hardy only hears his wife, whilst in stanza two, Hardy will start to imagine her. This is a form of synaesthesia, another technique which Hardy uses to show to the reader how he really wants his wife back. Similarly to stanza one, stanza two starts with a literary device; Can it be you that I hear?. This rhetorical question shows that as the poem unfolds, the reader is made more and more aware of how Hardy is becoming less and less lucid. Meter has been very well exploited in the poem, since another form of caesura can be seen from the first line of stanza two; Let me view you, then,. The fact that the word then is surrounded by two comas shows that the word is stressed upon when read. Hardy purposefully does this in order to make the reader understand that he loves his wife as she used to be long time ago, and the one she had changed into before her death. This stanza principally talks about how her wife would wait for me. This quote shows that Hardy might have been the dominant one, and this could be a reason for the drastic change in personality of the wife, although little evidence is given to further support the idea. Caesura has once again been used in line three, through the column. The idea behind this is to emphasize on the second part of the line; yes, as I knew you then,. Once again, Hardy shows that his true love was for the woman whom he knew well before, and not the changed one. In the last line of the stanza, Hardy has brought proof of his true love for his wife, through the line Even to the original air-blue gown!. This shows that Hardy remembers every detail concerning his beloved. In stanza three, the reader gets the impression that Hardy has somewhat regained a certain amount of lucidity. This can be seen from the very first line of stanza three; Or is it only the breeze, in its listlessness. The fact that Hardy finally realises that the voice might in actual fact have been the sound produced by the wind leaves him sad. This state of mind can be supported by the word wan, which means tired, exhaustion, and thus depression. Hardy has lost all hopes, and this can be seen through his diction; wistlessness. To be wistful means to have hope, however, Hardy has turned the word around to wistlessness, meaning no hope at all. It must be noted that the first 1

Vivek Bheeroo

14/08/11

three stanzas observe a regular rhythm pattern. However, the final stanza does not respect this pattern. The depressive feeling created in the third stanza is further enhanced in the closing stanza. This can be seen from the first line; Thus I; faltering forward. Two major techniques are used in this line, the first being caesura, through the insertion of the semi column, used to emphasize what is going to follow, and the second being the alliteration of the f sound. The alliteration is used to show how depressed and hopeless he has become, contrarily to the first part of the poem. Imagery is further used to depict his sense of wistlessness, through the line Leaves around me falling,. It must be noted that the short lines used in stanza four, with the exception of line number three, portrays the lack of energy and hope of the author. Hardy also experiences pain, which is graphically illustrated by Wind oozing thin through the thorn from norward,. This sense of pain is further increased via the alliteration of the f sound. The final line of the stanza and of the poem creates a sense of sympathy for the author, as the latter prefers to be in an imaginary world, where he can hear his wife than rather move on, and be lucid. We also feel desolation for the latter, because what awaits him is a life with no reason to live. Throughout the poem, Hardy has to a great extent portrayed his different states of mind and emotions as well, may it be that of hope, of joy of happiness, but also that of desolation, of hopelessness and of irrationality.