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Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

THOMAS HARDY, by                 Poet's Biography

"Thomas Hardy" by Norman Dubie is a poem that embodies a somber and contemplative reflection on mortality, layered with rich, vivid imagery and infused with an ethereal quality. Norman Dubie, through his poetic lens, captures a scene that feels both surreal and deeply rooted in the tangible aspects of rural life, evoking the style and themes characteristic of Thomas Hardy's own literary works.

The opening line, "The first morning after anyone’s death, is it important," sets an introspective tone, posing a rhetorical question about the significance of mundane details following the finality of death. This questioning of what should be noted or valued in the wake of death introduces a theme of existential contemplation that runs through the poem.

Dubie's imagery is striking and unusual, presenting a scene where a naked governess, still modestly wearing a scarf over her head, is seated on a gardener who is partially dressed in "just a blue shirt." This odd, intimate tableau occurs in a kitchen, a space typically associated with domesticity and nourishment, adding a layer of domestic surrealism to the scene. The mention that they "look like they are rowing" juxtaposes their static, awkward intimacy with the motion and fluidity of actual boats passing by on a mist-covered river outside, enhancing the dreamlike quality of the poem.

The sudden appearance of a "white, screaming bird" lifting off the river introduces a moment of intensity and disturbance. This image of the bird, alongside its joining by a second and then a third bird, contributes to a sense of mounting tension and chaos. The birds, with their white color and startling behavior, may symbolize spirits or omens, suggesting an otherworldly intrusion into the pastoral scene or perhaps representing the unsettling emotions that death can stir.

Dubie then returns the focus to a more grounded scene in the next lines, "The night always fails. The cows are now standing in the barns." This shift from the ethereal disturbance of the birds to the routine of farm life symbolizes the return to normalcy and the continual, unending cycles of nature, even in the face of human loss. The vivid auditory detail of milk hitting wooden pails not only roots the poem in sensory experience but also symbolizes life's sustenance continuing despite personal tragedies.

The poem, in its entirety, mirrors the thematic and stylistic elements often found in Thomas Hardy's work: a deep awareness of nature's cycles, the inevitability of time's passage, human and animal lives intertwined, and a bleak yet beautiful realism. Dubie’s portrayal of the scene encapsulates a moment frozen in time, where the surreal meets the everyday, and where the natural and the human landscapes are in constant, poignant dialogue—a fitting tribute to Hardy’s own narrative style and thematic preoccupations.


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