Thomas Hardy's Poems Poem by Ananta Madhavan

Why run out of themes, would-be writer?
I glance through Thomas Hardy's verses.
Wish I could write them out anew:
'After a Journey'
'At a Lunar Eclipse'
'Bird Scene at a Rural Dwelling'
'Cathedral Facade at Midnight'
'Childhood among Ferns'
'A Countenance'.
I've only come up to 'C'
Omitting many poems on the way.


Thomas Hardy is not easy to take on.
There is a rough strength in his woodwork;
Not cleverness, but character.
But I don't care for the wistful tone:
'He was a man who noticed such things'.


I can't write better poems than Hardy,
But no one else can write my poems.