tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post2220954409745457229..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: Edward Thomas On Thomas Hardy: "Ninety-Nine Reasons For Not Living"Stephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-31910881806449753872012-12-20T12:24:04.504-08:002012-12-20T12:24:04.504-08:00Bovey Belle: I think that you are correct. Loss o...Bovey Belle: I think that you are correct. Loss of faith was a large issue among the Victorians, wasn't it? But I also think that one's world-view is congenital to some degree, don't you think? <br /><br />And, perhaps most importantly in TH's case, he didn't (as you know) miss a thing and his memory seems to have been photographic. I recall reading somewhere that he said (or wrote) that he could recall an event that took place 40 years ago (including the emotions associated with it) as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. He carried all of this around with him, and it was bound to shape the way he saw the world.<br /><br />As always, I greatly appreciate hearing your thoughts.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-68633799180461445722012-12-19T14:16:26.010-08:002012-12-19T14:16:26.010-08:00Not to mention T S Eliot . . .Not to mention T S Eliot . . .Bovey Bellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13117332471600275100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-29109528168402769852012-12-19T14:13:01.305-08:002012-12-19T14:13:01.305-08:00I am late on the scene here, but in the light of a...I am late on the scene here, but in the light of a more recent post, this has relevance.<br /><br />I do wonder if Hardy's (true?) pessimism/realism, stems from his loss of Faith (I feel that the capital is justified). His jottings in the margins of his bible signifying how his former prop had collapsed?<br /><br />At any event, I have much more poetry to read - Houseman, Pound, Wolfe - and yet more Hardy and Thomas . . . and they are just the tip of the iceberg.Bovey Bellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13117332471600275100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-12577450705345992322011-07-06T12:59:05.270-07:002011-07-06T12:59:05.270-07:00Thanks again, Fred.Thanks again, Fred.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-4542850177233918082011-07-05T22:56:46.146-07:002011-07-05T22:56:46.146-07:00Chuckle . . .
Hardy is a favorite of mine, but, ...Chuckle . . . <br /><br />Hardy is a favorite of mine, but, as you say, he is no Han Shan.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-712393762360478652011-07-05T10:52:23.895-07:002011-07-05T10:52:23.895-07:00Fred: you and I are on the same page. I apologize...Fred: you and I are on the same page. I apologize if it seemed that I was suggesting that you thought Hardy was a Taoist -- that wasn't my intention. As you said, the third stanza is definitely "very Taoist in spirit." We both agree, I'm sure, that he was no Han Shan!Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-88170735169958109672011-07-04T19:11:29.220-07:002011-07-04T19:11:29.220-07:00Stephen,
Yes, I would agree here. I wouldn'...Stephen, <br /><br />Yes, I would agree here. I wouldn't call Hardy a Taoist overall, either. It was just that particular stanza that really came home.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-3410474067138511822011-07-03T21:31:59.390-07:002011-07-03T21:31:59.390-07:00Mr. Noel-Tod: thank you for visiting and commentin...Mr. Noel-Tod: thank you for visiting and commenting again. And thank you as well for the Kingsmill parody of Housman. (I seem to recall that Ezra Pound and Humbert Wolfe did parodies of Housman as well, although I can't recall the titles or any of the lines at the moment.)<br /><br />I agree with you about the distinction between Hardy and Housman. Off the top of my head, I would say that Hardy has an empathy for others that Housman seems not to have. As gloomy as Hardy can be, I feel more warmth in him than I do in Housman. (Although I do like Housman's poetry.) But perhaps I am being unfair to Housman.<br /><br />Again, thank you.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-88050697137724983362011-07-03T16:31:42.871-07:002011-07-03T16:31:42.871-07:00Julie: it sounds as though you interpret the third...Julie: it sounds as though you interpret the third stanza in a manner similar to Fred (see above). As I noted in my response to Fred, I sometimes read the stanza in that fashion as well. As you say, at least it has the virtue of rough justice: "everything passes and vanishes" as William Allingham once wrote.<br /><br />Thank you for visiting again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-50065224399393688552011-07-03T16:23:57.561-07:002011-07-03T16:23:57.561-07:00Fred: as always, I appreciate hearing your thought...Fred: as always, I appreciate hearing your thoughts. I understand what you are saying. I have sometimes read the third stanza the way that you do -- and Hardy begins to sound, as you say, like a Taoist (or like a Buddhist -- Ryokan perhaps). But at other times I think of Hardy's "purblind Doomsters," and I don't see the Taoist/Buddhist in Hardy. But I certainly agree with you that the third stanza does have that possibility in it.<br /><br />Thanks again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-40005645295782698612011-07-03T16:13:22.567-07:002011-07-03T16:13:22.567-07:00Mary F. C. Pratt: thank you for stopping by again....Mary F. C. Pratt: thank you for stopping by again. Yes, Hardy is what he is -- but I still love him!Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-26251197802324675832011-07-03T13:41:04.854-07:002011-07-03T13:41:04.854-07:00That's a very interesting post on both Hardy a...That's a very interesting post on both Hardy and Thomas; Thomas was indeed right to see how Hardy's poetry almost always manages to redress the balance away from pure gloom (as opposed to his interest in Doom,which is another matter). Reviewing A.E.Housman's posthumous collection, More Poems (1936) a critic described AEH as 'a poet with seemingly an equal zest for life and the grave' (Guy Boas). While that can be applied to Hardy as well, somehow Hardy manages to avoid the fault of Housman's fatalistic scenarios, which were parodied brilliantly by Hugh Kingsmill:<br /><br />What - still alive at twenty-two,<br />A clean, upstanding chap like you?<br />Sure, if your throat is hard to slit,<br />Slit your girl's, and swing for it.<br /><br />Like enough you won't be glad,<br />When they come to hang you, lad:<br />But bacon's not the only thing<br />That's cured by hanging from a string.<br /><br />So, when the spilt ink of the night<br />Spreads o'er the blotting-pad of light,<br />Lads whose job is still to do<br />Shall whet their knives, and think of you.Alex Noel-Todnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-77290076548794513082011-07-03T11:36:57.469-07:002011-07-03T11:36:57.469-07:00Stephen this is an insightful introduction to Hard...Stephen this is an insightful introduction to Hardy's poetry. I like the third stanza, as it adds at least justice if not hope!<br />Best, <br />JulieJulie Whitmore Potteryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12283540996942265818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-8858848399825502692011-07-03T08:33:32.652-07:002011-07-03T08:33:32.652-07:00I like the third stanza; to me, it completes the t...I like the third stanza; to me, it completes the thought. Even though good things seem to go, and the bad stay, in the end all have the same end.<br /><br />Very Taoist in spirit. All things change; neither good nor bad remain forever.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-24689485972510648282011-07-03T05:24:01.742-07:002011-07-03T05:24:01.742-07:00Better or worse indeed! Thanks, as always.Better or worse indeed! Thanks, as always.Mary F. C. Pratthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18208459186091082616noreply@blogger.com