Thomas Hardy

1. Thomas Hardy Poem Names -The Children and Sir Nameless Date Published: 1922 -The Dead Man Walking Date Published: 1909

2. Biography Thomas Hardy was born on June 2nd 1840 and died on January 11th 1928. Hardy was born in Higher Bockhampton. His mother, Jemima, taught him to read and write until he went to school at age eight. At the age of sixteen Hardy graduated form Mr. Last’s Academy for Young Gentlemen in Dorset. He then went on to study architecture with James Hicks, whom was apprenticed to. In 1862, Hardy attended King’s College in London. Five years later he moved back Dorset. There he began writing. He was an English novelist and poet and a Victorian realist. Hardy was influenced by Charles DICKickens, who also criticized Victorian society. Many of his novels presented a social struggle among the characters and were set in WesSEX, a medieval Anglo-Saxon Kingdom. Some of these novels were “The Mayor of Casterbridge”, “Under the Greenwood Tree” and “Far from the Madding Crowd”. In 1874, he married Emma Lavinia Gifford. She later died in 1912. Many of his poems from 1912 to 1913 were centered on her death. Some of these poems were “Nobody COMes”, The Going”, “The Haunter” and “The Voice”. Although he remarried in 1914 he was still traumatized by his first wife’s death and decided to continue writing poetry. In the December or 1927 Hardy got pleurisy dying a month later. On his deathbed he dictated his final poem to his wife.

3. Historical Background Thomas Hardy lived during the Victorian Era. This was a period of time when the British were under the rule of Queen Victoria, who reigned from June 20th 1837 to January 22nd 1901. During this time England was prosperous and peaceful with many great changes. Because fertility rates were high while mortality rates were low England’s population almost doubled in the last fifty years of Queen Victoria’s rule. Technology developed quickly. Steam ships, canals, cars and railroads were built throughout England. Medicine also improved, anesthetics such as laughing gas were introduced. However, during the Victorian Era many of the workers were children. By using child labor the factory heads could get cheap labor, but adults were left without jobs. Many people lived in poverty. Also there were many more women in England than men so many of the women remained single. Because many of these women were single and did not have jobs many turned to prostitution. By 1857 there were more than 8,600 prostitutes in London. Because of this many writers were critical of the Victorian Era. Some of these writers were Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens.

4. The Children and Sir Nameless Sir Nameless, once of Athelhall, declared:
"These wretched children romping in my park
Trample the herbage till the soil is bared,
And yap and yell from early morn till dark!
Go keep them harnessed to their set routines:
Thank God I've none to hasten my decay;
For green remembrance there are better means
Than offspring, who but wish their sires away." Sir Nameless of that mansion said anon:
 "To be perpetuate for my mightiness
 Sculpture must image me when I am gone."
 - He forthwith summoned carvers there express
 To shape a figure stretching seven-odd feet
 (For he was tall) in alabaster stone,
 With shield, and crest, and casque, and word complete:When done a statelier work was never known. Three hundred years hied; Church-restorers came,
And, no one of his lineage being traced,
They thought an effigy so large in frame
Best fitted for the floor. There it was placed,
Under the seats for schoolchildren. And they
Kicked out his name, and hobnailed off his nose;
And, as they yawn through sermon-time, they say,
"Who was this old stone man beneath our toes?"

5. Analysis & Significance: The Children and Sir Nameless This poem has a regular a-b rhyme scheme Sir Nameless, once of Athelhall, declared: (A) 'These wretched children romping in my park (B) Trample the herbage till the soil is bared,(A) And yap and yell from early morn till dark! (B) Go keep them harnessed to their set routines: (A) Thank God I've none to hasten my decay; (B) For green remembrance there are better means (A) Than offspring, who but wish their sires away.' (B) Sir Nameless of that mansion said anon: (A) 'To be perpetuate for my mightiness (B) Sculpture must image me when I am gone.' (A) – He forthwith summoned carvers there express (B)To shape a figure stretching seven-odd feet(A) (For he was tall) in alabaster stone,(B) With shield, and crest, and casque, and sword complete: (A) When done a statelier work was never known. (B)

6. Analysis & Significance: The Children and Sir Nameless (Continued) • Three hundred years hied; Church restorers came,(A) And, no one of his lineage being traced, (B) They thought an effigy so large in frame (A) Best fitted for the floor. There it was placed, (B) Under the seats for schoolchildren. And they (A) Kicked out his name, and hobnailed off his nose; (B) And, as they yawn through sermon-time, they say,(A) 'Who was this old stone man beneath our toes? (B) • Significance:This poem is not a particularly strong poem but it possess features gives it a firm place in Thomas Hardy’s poetic works. The poem does, for example, repeats indirectly the message of "Heredity" in which "the family face" is passed genetically down through the generations, "the eternal thing in man, / that heeds no call to die", is likely to provide immortality through one's children than an inanimate artifact such as this statue.

7. The Dead Man Walking On to this death .... -- A Troubadour-youth I rambled With Life for lyre, The beats of being raging In me like fire. But when I practised eyeing The goal of men, It iced me, and I perished A little then. When passed my friend, my kinsfolk, Through the Last Door, And left me standing bleakly, I died yet more; And when my Love's heart kindled In hate of me, Wherefore I knew not, died I One more degree. HEY hail me as one living, But don't they know That I have died of late years, Untombed although? I am but a shape that stands here, A pulseless mould, A pale past picture, screening Ashes gone cold. Not at a minute's warning, Not in a loud hour, For me ceased Time's enchantments In hall and bower. There was no tragic transit, No catch of breath, When silent seasons inched me

8. The Dead Man Walking And if when I died fully I cannot say, And changed into the corpse-thing I am to-day, Yet is it that, though whiling The time somehow In walking, talking, smiling, I live not now.

9. Analysis & Significance: The Dead Man Walking • Tone:The tone of the poem is depressed/gloomy. The speaker is in such great misery that he compares himself to a dead man. • Theme:Despair • The speaker suffers from deep despair, dwelling only on the negative and seeing nothing at all in life to cheer him. Observing the questionable practices of others in the pursuit of their goals precipitates his gloominess. The loss of friends and loved ones, followed by his beloved's rejection of him, deepens his gloom. Unlike others who mourn losses and experience disappointment, the speaker seems unable to rebound. • The poem appears to reflect the author's own tribulations. He endured criticism of his novels (most of which today enjoy the favor of critics), struggled with crises of faith, and had a troubled marriage. His marriage problems were partly due to his wife's negative reaction to his controversial novels—such as Jude the Obscure, which attacks the institution of marriage. He and his wife became estranged, although he grieved profoundly for her after she died in 1912. • End Rhyme: • The second and fourth lines of each stanza contain end rhyme. All of the end rhymes are masculine except the end rhyme in lines 10 and 12, which is feminine. In masculine rhyme, only the final syllable of one line rhymes with the final syllable of another line. In feminine rhyme, the last two syllables of one line rhyme with the last two syllables of another line. In the feminine rhyme in lines 10 and 12, hour technically has only one syllable. However, it is pronounced as if it has two. It rhymes with a two-syllable word, bower.

10. Analysis & Significance: The Dead Man Walking (Continued) Meter: • The meter generally alternates between iambic tetrameter and iambic diameter. The lines in iambic tetrameter end with a catalectic (incomplete) foot, giving them seven syllables instead of the usual eight. The first stanza demonstrates this pattern. • 1234 They HAIL..|meASoneLIVing, (iambic tetrameter with an incomplete foot at the end) • 12 But DON'T they KNOW (iambic diameter) • 1234 That I have DIED of LATE years, (iambic tetrameter with an incomplete foot at the end) •   12 Un TOMBEDalTHOUGH? (iambic diameter) • Line 17 departs from the pattern. It has eight syllables, consisting of an iamb, an anapest, an iamb, and a catalectic foot. Figures of Speech: • Following are examples of figures of speech in the poem. For definitions of figures of speech, click here. Alliteration: • A pulseless mould, • Apalepastpicture, screening (lines 6-7) • When silent seasons inched me (line 15) • Wherefore I knewnot, died I (line 29)

11. Analysis & Significance: The Dead Man Walking (Continued) • Anaphora: Notat a minute's warning, Notina loud hour (lines 9-10) • Metaphor: With Life for lyre (line 18) Compared life to a lyre *** lyre: stringed instrument When passed my friend, my kinsfolk, Through the Last Door (lines 25-26) Comparison of death to "the Last Door" • Paradox: The poem is about a living man was feels as if he is a dead man. • Simile: The beats of being raging In me like fire. (lines 19-20)

12. Alex’s Original Poem I want it I need it It makes me mad It will not come to me And I cannot find it It will be what I never had

13. Christopher's Original Poem In the depth of the night, When all are asleep, There is all but one, Who remains restless. Guarding your dreams, Protecting your soul, This duty is more complicated, Than what’s said. With a little of magic, A sprinkle here, And a sprinkle there, The savior protects us all. A dream of life, A dream of prosperity, A dream of love, A dream of destiny. Protected by a guardian, Sent from above, He is the one, The only one who can save us.

14. Zach’s Original Poem I live to succeed, I want to be the best of them all, I will try my best to never fall So people will know who I am I want to have a long lasting legacy I want to be remembered on this earth Long after my birth So people will know who I was

15. Ahanaf’s Original Poem You were the sun and you kept Me alive and I wish I Fought through every cloud on Every single rainy day So I could Be with You

16. Bibliography • Cumming, Michael J. "Cummings Study Guide." The Dead Man Walking: A Study Guide. Michael J. Cumming, 2012. Web. 01 June 2013. • "The Dead Man Walking, by Thomas Hardy." The Dead Man Walking, by Thomas Hardy. Poetry Archive, 2002. Web. 01 June 2013.