The Voice

The Voice – Thomas Hardy

Background

‘The Voice’ is one of the extraordinary group of poems written by Hardy between

1912 and 1913 after the death of his first wife, Emma. It is well documented that

their marriage, especially in later years, was not a happy one. Nevertheless, her

death was a real shock to Hardy. He had not anticipated it and may well have felt

guilty about the lack of care he showed when she first became ill. He wrote: 'I wrote

just after Emma died, when I looked back at her as she had originally been, and

when I felt miserable lest I had not treated her considerately in later life. However, I

shall publish them as the only amends I can make.’ He also wrote in a letter: ‘In spite

of the differences between us, which it would be affectation to deny, & certain painful

delusions she suffered from at times, my life is intensely sad without her.’ In his

bereavement, he often pictured Emma as she was in earlier years.

The poem is written using the second person, addressing the deceased woman

herself. Much of the impact of the poem derives from its metrical complexity and its

extended rhyming system. At this level, students are not expected to be able to do a

sophisticated analysis of this, nor to know the technical vocabulary to describe it,

unless, of course, they are able and ready to face the challenge. However, they

should be able to respond to the way the rhythms communicate and define the poet's

changing emotions.

Stanza 1: The syntax is quite convoluted but the sense clear, that is that the dead

woman is trying to tell the poet that she is now like she was when they first met and

they were in love, rather than the person she had become in later years.

Stanza 2: While the poem mostly concentrates on the woman’s voice, we see here a

poignant attempt at conjuring up from his memory a visual image of his wife, in a

specific locality associated with his earlier deep feelings for her.

Line 11: wistlessness: a coinage by Hardy. The word ‘wistful’ is common enough.

Its primary meaning is ‘closely attentive’. So probably, the word ‘wistlessness’

suggests a ‘fading away’.

Line 13: Thus I: introduces an image of the poet’s state of mind as his brief vision of

his wife fades.

Line 15: thorn: any bush with thorns, or perhaps, in this context, many bushes like

brambles. There is no need to be specific; it is a metaphor for his state of mind.

from norward: from a northerly direction