Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DRUMMER HODGE by THOMAS HARDY

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: THEY THROW IN DRUMMER HODGE, TO REST
Last Line: HIS STARS ETERNALLY.
Subject(s): BOER WAR; TRAVEL; WAR; SOUTH AFRICAN WAR; JOURNEYS; TRIPS;
1
They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest
Uncoffined -- just as found:
His landmark is a kopje-crest
That breaks the veldt around;
And foreign constellations west
Each night above his mound.

2
Young Hodge the Drummer never knew --
Fresh from his Wessex home --
The meaning of the broad Karoo,
The Bush, the dusty loam,
And why uprose to nightly view
Strange stars amid the gloam.

3
Yet portion of that unknown plain
Will Hodge forever be;
His homely Northern breast and brain
Grow to some Southern tree,
And strange-eyed constellations reign
His stars eternally.



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