The Voice Flashcards
Summary
Written from the perspective of a man who yearns for a women who is no longer in his life
Analysis
For the voice, Thomas hardy loses his loved one, which then shows how he misses through this quote
“Where you would wait for me : yes, as I knew you then”
The colon is the caesura used in order to create an effect of memories of the author as if he’s recalling past events with his wife
To illustration and how his affection affect his emotion the repetition of “ CALL TO ME, CALL TO ME” represent his hallucinations as if he was talking to someone, presumably his head wife Emma.
—> This technique creates an echo, which shows how empty his life is without her. It emphasises the feeling of losing an important person and that he falls into the cycle of grief
In addition, the speaker seems to be delusional having the conversation to himself. That is “where you would wait for me; yes, as I knew you then”. The use of semi colon to break two clauses into question - answer relationship is a caesura to make it sound like a dialogue. This creates an impression on the memory of the author as if he were meeting his wife. However as we know that his wife has already passed away . This links back to the context where he can’t move on after her death due to his love for her.
Moreover, “thus I ; faltering forward”, the word ‘faltering’ here means fading away which refers to the fair memories they had together. It gives the sense of loneliness. The feeling suggest the regret of loss he has for his ex wife. As well, “faltering forward” uses fricative alliteration to bring a sound of leaves rustling around as imagery of everything fading away and so puts an emphasis on the speaker’s loss and deterioration of his mind at the same time
Therefore, the poem suggest that the speaker can’t still get over the loss of his loved one
Structure
Four quatrain
ABAB CDCD
Rhythm is irregular and changes drastically in the final stanza which could reflect and highlight hardy’s grief, confusion and emotional pain)
