tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post4850564681402651285..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: "When Oats Were Reaped"Stephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-25499206364696476102012-03-25T16:58:18.965-07:002012-03-25T16:58:18.965-07:00Rick's wife: thank you very much for the refer...Rick's wife: thank you very much for the reference to Auden and Hardy -- I wasn't aware of Auden's comment, and it is nice to know. As you are probably aware, Larkin attributed his escape from the spell of Yeats to his discovery of Hardy. Edward Thomas was likewise quite fond of Hardy. For all of its eccentricities, Hardy's poetry is, I think, still essential reading.<br /><br />Thank you for visiting again. Your new blog is lovely -- I was happy to see it arrive, given Goethe Etc's "vacation."Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-81909434228588362242012-03-25T09:35:42.795-07:002012-03-25T09:35:42.795-07:00I've just been reading Auden's "Makin...I've just been reading Auden's "Making, Knowing, Judging," in The Dyer's Hand, in which he mentions that Thomas Hardy was his "first Master."Goethe Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11390542069637659154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-56770422858784272382012-03-25T09:27:15.919-07:002012-03-25T09:27:15.919-07:00Fred: yes, that is a wonderful progression, isn...Fred: yes, that is a wonderful progression, isn't it? Given Hardy's preoccupation with time/Time, what you say makes perfect sense. (And what he writes sounds beautiful in the bargain!)<br /><br />As always, thank you very much for visiting.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-86902271812895635122012-03-25T09:23:48.110-07:002012-03-25T09:23:48.110-07:00Mr. Sigler: thanks for stopping by, and for your t...Mr. Sigler: thanks for stopping by, and for your thoughts. I understand your interpretation, but I am also mindful of the fact that Hardy wrote the poem in 1913, after the death of his first wife, Emma. <br /><br />Although "When Oats Were Reaped" was not included in his "Poems of 1912-1913," which were his response to her death, I think that the person addressed in the poem is Emma. I cannot claim to have arrived at this conclusion on my own: J. O. Bailey relates the poem to Emma, and, more particularly, to a visit Hardy made to Stinsford Churchyard, where she is buried. Some think that Bailey's factual certainty may lack sufficient evidence, but I do think that Emma is the "wounded" woman.<br /><br />This does not, of course, invalidate your take on things. But it is something to bear in mind.<br /><br />With respect to "no response accorded she": the OED includes "to give, bestow, award" as a possible meaning of "accord." This makes sense to me. It may also be consistent with a certain stubbornness in Emma's character. (Not that Hardy did not possess his own share of stubbornness, of course.)<br /><br />Thanks again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-77815491600369153752012-03-25T07:34:02.388-07:002012-03-25T07:34:02.388-07:00Stephen,
That first line is intriguing, isn't...Stephen,<br /><br />That first line is intriguing, isn't it? The three verbs convey a sense of time passing or is it time stationary with past, present, and future brought together.<br /><br />were reaped--past<br />was ripe--ready for reaping now<br />ripening--futureFredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-58450835691641972422012-03-25T06:23:33.028-07:002012-03-25T06:23:33.028-07:00Ah, yes, and I think there is even more artful amb...Ah, yes, and I think there is even more artful ambiguity than you suggest. “Looking just ahead” may not just be a physical view, but a mental idea, and “where silent people lie” may not be a graveyard, but an uncommunicative state-of-mind (also note the pun on lie). In the second stanza, “no response accorded she” is an odd phrasing; it seems more to mean the speaker did not respond to the woman than the woman did not respond to the speaker. Maybe the speaker is upset because he did not have the last word, or didn’t clarify things, or just let her fly the coop. The gap between people widens on both sides in this lovely little poem.WAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10403669322174979974noreply@blogger.com