Thomas Hardy Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

Today I taste poems of Hardy
Out of joy and freewill.
True I should have read them
Fifty years ago. As a student
I then read poets to ensure marks
In the examinations, and
To show the world I know,
And make my answers and talks
Richer in allusions to impress
All and sundry; no, perhaps not.
How I get carried away with words!
No, I don’t see myself as a youngster
Consciously setting out to impress.

There was my stylish friend Clement in MA,
Who would on my face and to the girls,
Boast, “Trevelyn, he doesn’t make an impact
On first sight, but is good in studies,
Managed to obtain first rank in BA,
But in MA it is reserved for me”.
Despite the trumpets he blew in Tirunelveli style,
I was friendly with him, grateful to him
For the way he befriended me first in MCC.

We don’t know ourselves at all
In many respects.
What is duty, and what is pleasure
Always confused me in studies.
I realize now when I pick up Hardy poems
Rather than agenda items of Board Meetings!

It is simple: what I read out of compulsion is duty,
What I do without any reason to, is for pleasure.

Voltaire-style, I dont agree with a word of his
On President of Immortals or Vast Imbecility.

I defend to the last dropp of my blood his poetic skills
Though I love life with sun-lit blue sky or grey rainclouds.