the going understanding and themes Flashcards
about the poem
the poem is a reflection on the speakers wifes sudden death in 1912
emma Hardy died on the morning 27 november 1912 it appears hardy didnot know how ill she was -he was shocked at her death
they had been estranged for a time altough they still stayed together at max gate
maybe this is why he hadnt noticed her increased frailty
her death prompted an outpour of poems
he wrote almst 50 in the yr aftr her death
Structure
6 7line stanzas
irregular line length which convys the shocked state of mind of tjhe speaker
the length of the longer lines varry frm 8-11 syllables
shrtr liunes are 5or6 syylables in length
the punctuation reflects the speakers emkotional termoil by provinding a turbulent pace to the poem
the frequent enjambmenrt in the first stanza conveys the idea of his alarm at ther suddern turn of events –she has gonne in a wink of an eye as it were and he has no hope of following after her it cannot be undone
in the final stanza the pace comes almostt to a standstill with the abrupt pauses in the middel oof both line4s 36 and 37 particuallry the fullstops emphesis the heavy pauser as the poet realises the finaility of his wifes death
rhyme shceme is regular
ababccb pattern
with occasional half rhyme instead of full rhyme
stanzas 1-4 focus on emmma
then focus shifts to poet and wife as a couple in stanza 5 ending with the effect her death had on himself in stanza 6
stanzas 1/3/5 ask typical questions such as why and thew alternate stanzas have more of a time of refelection
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figures of speech
note ; the poet doesnt use dead or death when reffering to eemas death he useses euphemisms as if he cannot give voice to thgis reality
line 4 :close your term here “,”up and gone “
line 13”your great going”
line 31”your vanishing “
line 40”such swift feeling”
the titile isw a euphemisim becuz the poem is about her death but is etitled the going as if sehe has not irrevocably left
the word dead is only used 2wice one when refering to their earlier happiness line 30 ans and once when describing how he feels
‘i seem but a dead man n” line 38
line 9
the word play in b “lip me the softest call”“calls up associations of their love where lips would kiss
llines 10 and 11
“i saw morning harden up on the wall “ thisn metaphor conveys several layers of meanings
morning is compared oto a painting rather than reality
the poet saw morning as if HE wasnt apart of the world but viewd it at a distancelike watching a painting drying
it shows is distresss- the morning is compared to something that sets irreversiibly and he had to watch this happening withouut being able to stop the event in the same way he had found himself on the morning which his wife died and the veent was “set” irrevocably
instead of morning being being a new day and full of promise and new beginnings it hardens with all conatations of lack of sym,pathy lack of care and consideration the cruel reality of the law in nature
line 16
“think for a breath it is you isee “ this metaphor describing a moment as “a breath”
conveys the fleeting natureof the moment but alswo implies the poet catching his breath when he thinks he has just seen her
it is also ironic becuz breath is associated with life the image hgere highlights the insurmountable distance between them - he is catching his breath but she isd beyond drawing breath together
Lines 18-20
notice how dusk is drawn together with “darkening darkness”bey ALLETERATION
and rto “yawning blackness “ by the rhyme involved the purpose of the association is to draw a contrast between the softness of dusk {which holds the promiase of intimicy and rest ] and rthe cold ,harsh lonliness of darkness and blankness brougght on by death
}
line 20
“yawning blankness””
-the emptyness stretching into the futuree is increased by the metaphor of this
“yawning” the comparision evokes an image of an open black hole threatining to engulf the poet
much of the DICTION conveys the helplessness of the speaker to prevent loosing her
line5 {i could not follow }
line 8{never to bid goodbye””
lines 13-14”your great going altered all”
line 36”alls past amend/unchangeable””
lines 41-42”no soul foreseeing”“/not even i8 “”
look how he3 sees her as the agent while he is the passive victim
line 1
{why did you givew no hint }
line 4{you woulkd close your term”
\
line 5 {where i could not}
line 15 {why do you m ake me
}
line 21 {you were she who}
line 27 {would muse and eye me “
line 42”undo me so””
how and why does the helplessness increaser
the helplessness increases in the last two stanzas whgen he regrets that they did not renew their love before it waqsd too late [stanza 5]annd his despair at feeling so utterly undone because he cannoit change ther inne3vitablefact of her death in stanza 6
line 38
“i seem but a dead man hold on end “
is this a metaphor or a simiie
it is a similoie because he doersnt say he is a dead man but rather that he is like a daed man
often writters highlight important words using various poetic devices such as alleteration rhyme or half rhyme assonance or othert forms of repitition
egs
+ALLETERATION :”GAIN ONE GLIMSE”“GREAT GOING”“BENDING BOUUGHS”“DARKENING DARKNESS
““STRIVE TO SEEK””
REPITITION
note the number of reppitions with negative connotations “unmoved ,unknowing”“Unchangeable”"”never ….did we not ….no soul…..not even” we might have {iindicating that they did not “altrered all”
