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You did not come,
And marching Time drew on, and wore me numb.
Yet less for loss of your dear presence there
Than that I thus found lacking in your make
That high compassion which can overbear
Reluctance for pure lovingkindness' sake
Grieved I, when, as the hope-hour stroked its sum,
You did not come.
You love not me,
And love alone can lend you loyalty;
-I know and knew it. But, unto the store
Of human deeds divine in all but name,
Was it not worth a little hour or more
To add yet this: Once you, a woman, came
To soothe a time-torn man; even though it be
You love not me.
Thomas Hardy
Read poems about / on: loss, woman, hope, alone, time, love, women
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Michael Pruchnicki (5/12/2008 11:28:00 AM)
Some of the comments posted here puzzle this reader, but that's
the nature of the beast, I guess. Consider that Hardy wrote in the 19th century
when certain theories about the nature of life were prominent. One theory
that Hardy espoused and wrote about in both his poetry and in his novels
was the tragic nature of human life. The cards are stacked against us from
birth to death, and the sad fate of his characters bears that point of view out
to the nth degree. 'A Broken Appointment' has been dismissed by some
as much ado about nothing- some woman stood him up, so get over it, man!
She did not make the appointment, though he waited patiently for hours on end.
The speaker grieved that she demonstrated such a lack of compassion for
a man in his straits - a time-torn man at the end of his rope! He recognizes
that she doesn't love him, not even in the kind way one human being cares
for another mortal being in distress. There are actions that one can take to
alleviate the suffering of a time-torn man (or woman!) that are divine. Recall
that Hardy was not a believer in a divine being, but he believed that one has
a duty to respond to the down-and-out (just a little hour or more!) .
What vodka and water have to do with Hardy's poem is beyond me, I admit!
Another modern reader who knows his own mind? I don't know! |
Michael Pruchnicki (5/12/2008 11:28:00 AM)
Some of the comments posted here puzzle this reader, but that's
the nature of the beast, I guess. Consider that Hardy wrote in the 19th century
when certain theories about the nature of life were prominent. One theory
that Hardy espoused and wrote about in both his poetry and in his novels
was the tragic nature of human life. The cards are stacked against us from
birth to death, and the sad fate of his characters bears that point of view out
to the nth degree. 'A Broken Appointment' has been dismissed by some
as much ado about nothing- some woman stood him up, so get over it, man!
She did not make the appointment, though he waited patiently for hours on end.
The speaker grieved that she demonstrated such a lack of compassion for
a man in his straits - a time-torn man at the end of his rope! He recognizes
that she doesn't love him, not even in the kind way one human being cares
for another mortal being in distress. There are actions that one can take to
alleviate the suffering of a time-torn man (or woman!) that are divine. Recall
that Hardy was not a believer in a divine being, but he believed that one has
a duty to respond to the down-and-out (just a little hour or more!) .
What vodka and water have to do with Hardy's poem is beyond me, I admit!
Another modern reader who knows his own mind? I don't know! |
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Thomas Hardy
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