The
reading assignments this week, consisting of selections from the poetry of
Thomas Hardy, were very interesting and enlightening. I am familiar with Thomas Hardy as a novelist, having read
two of his novels and seen the film adaptations of two more, but I was unaware
of the fact that he was a poet as well.
All of Hardy’s poetry is beautiful and enjoyable to read, but the poem
that stood out to me the most was “He Never Expected Much”.
“Never, I own, expected I /
That life would be all fair.
‘Twas then you said, and
since have said, / Times since have said,
In that mysterious voice you shed / From the clouds and hills
around:
‘Many have loved me desperately, / Many with smooth serenity,
While some have shown contempt of me / Till they dropped
underground.”
(NEAL 2325-6)
This
excerpt stood out to me because the first two lines are fairly accurate of my
attitude towards life. I don’t
