Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE TORN LETTER, by THOMAS HARDY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: I tore your letter into strips Last Line: But that, thank god, you do not know. Subject(s): Letters; Love - Loss Of | ||||||||
I I TORE your letter into strips No bigger than the airy feathers That ducks preen out in changing weathers Upon the shifting ripple-tips. II In darkness on my bed alone I seemed to see you in a vision, And hear you say: 'Why this derision Of one drawn to you, though unknown?' III Yes, eve's quick mood had run its course, The night had cooled my hasty madness; I suffered a regretful sadness Which deepened into real remorse. IV I thought what pensive patient days A soul must know of grain so tender, How much of good must grace the sender Of such sweet words in such bright phrase. V Uprising then, as things unpriced I sought each fragment, patched and mended; The midnight whitened ere I had ended And gathered words I had sacrificed. VI But some, alas, of those I threw Were past my search, destroyed for ever: They were your name and place; and never Did I regain those clues to you. VII I learnt I had missed, by rash unheed, My track; that, so the Will decided, In life, death, we should be divided, And at the sense I ached indeed. VIII That ache for you, born long ago, Throbs on: I never could outgrow it. What a revenge, did you but know it! But that, thank God, you do not know. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ROSE AND MURRAY by CONRAD AIKEN THOUGH WE NO LONGER POSSESS IT by MARK JARMAN THE GLORY OF THE DAY WAS IN HER FACE by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON LOVE COME AND GONE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON CHAMBER MUSIC: 28 by JAMES JOYCE CHAMBER MUSIC: 33 by JAMES JOYCE A SCOTCH SONG by JOANNA BAILLIE AND THERE WAS A GREAT CALM' by THOMAS HARDY |
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