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“A Broken Appointment” by Thomas Hardy (1901)
A sort of follow-up to “At an Inn” from Hardy’s second collection of poems, Hardy’s speaker in “A Broken Appointment” considers the impact of their lover now failing to show up for an assignation. The poem registers the speaker’s disappointment and their growing certainty that love is a cruel prankster forever denying them its fullest experience.
“Wind and the Window Flower” by Robert Frost (1913)
Frost, the iconic American Modernist, is often compared to Hardy given how they both bridge the two centuries and reflect the movement into Modernism. This poem is Frost’s take on the cruel capriciousness of love. It describes a soft breeze and an indoor flower at a windowsill that is achingly close to but denied that breeze. Frost uses this image to describe the nearness and distance of love, how enticing and teasing love is and how finally unavailable it is.
Poem 43 (“Remorse”) by Emily Dickinson (1896)
Dickinson, another early Modernist poet often compared to Hardy, offers her take on regret. Remorse, Dickinson decides in keeping with the sentiment of Hardy’s speaker, is “cureless” (Line 9) and living within regret is a “complement to Hell” (Line 12).
By Thomas Hardy
Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave
Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave
Thomas Hardy
Channel Firing
Channel Firing
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Far From The Madding Crowd
Far From The Madding Crowd
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Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure
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Neutral Tones
Neutral Tones
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Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
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The Convergence of the Twain
The Convergence of the Twain: Lines on the loss of the "Titanic"
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The Darkling Thrush
The Darkling Thrush
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The Man He Killed
The Man He Killed
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The Mayor of Casterbridge
The Mayor of Casterbridge
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The Return of the Native
The Return of the Native
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The Withered Arm and Other Stories
The Withered Arm and Other Stories
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The Woodlanders
The Woodlanders
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