A Wife In London by Thomas Hardy

Question 1

What does Thomas Hardy use the poet as a vehicle to?

Answer 1

To expose the intense grief that the wives of soldiers had to endure during the war and post war

Question 2

Initially point

Answer 2

The vulnerability of the wife is highlighted and her ever more diminishing hope that her husband will return, as shown through the motif of light

Question 3

Initially… (quote 1)

Answer 3

“She sits in tawny vapour”

• “sits” juxtaposes her husbands active role in war, but still intensifies the waiting process. It also emphasises her vulnerability because she is sitting and waiting for bad news, which makes the news more tragic
• “tawny” suggests that the air is polluted, which implies a distinct obscurity both in the air and in wether or not her husband will return home from war

Question 4

Initially… (quote 2)

Answer 4

“The street lamp glimmers cold”

-“Glimmers cold” suggests that the light which is indicative of her hope is fading and diminishing, which mimics her hope that her husband will return from hope, especially since she has not heard from him

Question 5

As the text develops point

Answer 5

The wife receives the news that her husband has died, and the use of the euphemism attempts to soften the news

Question 6

As the text develops… (quote 1)

Answer 6

“Cracks smartly”

• “cracks”- use of onomatopoeia emphasises the harsh nature of the poem and the harsh nature of women’s lives during the Boeur war
• “Smartly” creates a sense of Officiousness because it is his job to deliver the news which has been foreshadowed to be negative by the sub title “the tragedy”- it makes the news less personalised and a more widely felt guilt as shown by the messengers lack of emotion

Question 7

As the text develops… (quote 2)

Answer 7

“He-has fallen- in the far South Land”

• euphemism of “fallen” attempts to soften the nature of the sentiment, however, it is contradicted by the professional nature of the messenger
• use of dashes further emphasises the messengers attempt to soften the blow

Question 8

Ultimately point

Answer 8

The last stanza is turned into a sick kind of joke because she receives a letter about what her husband wanted to do when he returned, but she already knew he was dead

Question 9

Ultimately… (quote 1)

Answer 9

“The fog hangs thicker”

• This further emphasises the obscurity first portrayed in the first line, however this time, it is even thicker which further isolates her

Question 10

Ultimately… (quote 2)

Answer 10

“They would learn”
“They”- further deepens the sick joke because they has turned into she
-The use of the agonising conditional “would” adds a bitter awfulness because the husband just promised so much of his “hopes return” but would never return