James Joyce’s “Dubliner’s Clay”

James Joyce’s talent in narration and novel work is evident in “Dubliner’s Clay” as he portrays the life of Maria, a special member of Dublin by Lamplight laundry, which is a refuge for the prostitutes of the city (footnote 5, 1134).  In modernistic style, Joyce portrays the nontraditional lifestyles of the city in which women lives independently of men with prose uncensored from vulgarity.

The women of this age is clearly portrayed as hard working and independent as “women began to come in by twos and threes, wiping their steaming hands in their petticoats and pulling down their sleeves of their blouses over their red steaming arms.”  This reminds me of the advertisements during warring times of “Rosie the Riveter” (see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_the_Riveter).  The independent working women are just one of the drastic differences addressed by modern authors of the twentieth century.  Here, Joyce gives a good example of this theme.

What makes Joyce’s style so modernistic is the uniqueness and unorthodox of his work, which is apparent if we look closely as how he constructed the language to illustrate the characters words without the use of quotes and the way at which he structures them.  The rare references to actual speech are singular lines purposefully placed between paragraphs.  In a way, the seclusion of speech from the rest of the narrating paragraphs could be symbolic of Maria’s independence and seclusion from love and men.

Joyce continues to show Maria as a woman who is past her primes and lack of beauty.  She lives a life full of interaction, only to hide the loneliness within her soul.  Her situation is sad, as we can see that her desires still exists when the author constantly teases her with events and jokes relating to marriage.  For example, Maria’s misery is evident as she is frustrated with the “young men [that] don’t seem to notice her” (1135).  As a result she thinks she “would have to stand in the Drumcondra tram” while waiting to go to Mass.  Her situation becomes worse as she learns that the nice “elderly gentlemen” who befriends her in lieu of the “young men” has only done so as to trick her of her “plume cakes.”  With “shame and vexation and disappointment,… she nearly cried outright” (1136).

Her lack of a companion, in part, may be due to her looks as well as her age.  The author uses fine imagery to illustrate her strangeness as we can imagine her ridiculous features of “small” statue with a “very long nose and a very long chin” that the “tip of her nose nearly met the tip of her chin” every time she laughs.  The image is almost annoying.  Her appearance is further stressed as this very line is repeated many more times in the story.  She appears to not fit into any member of society.  Although not a prostitute, she works in Dublin’s Lamplight Laundry.  She goes to mass even though she is made fun of by the “next-door” girls.  And the only person who genuinely treats her nice, is the married Joe.  One of her laundry friends even  jokes (as she done so every year before) about her getting the “ring” during her game of Hallow Eves at Mass.

Maria’s final song “I Dreamt that I Dwelt,” represents a resolution to her true feelings as she sings “But I also dreamt, which pleased me most, That you loved me still the same” (1137).  This line does not just represent Maria’s desire for companionship, but also of her desire for those around her to truly love her as she does them.  Only in her dreams does she fulfill this false happiness.  The story of Maria, in a unique way, is representative of the modernist poet, in that Joyce illustrates the imperfect love that secretly haunts Maria through daily experiences filled the vulgarities of life.  In “Dubliner’s Clay,” Joyce does a fine job at portraying the modernistic view of the independent woman and the experience of love’s miseries and imperfections.

Thomas Stearns Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

As one of the most celebrated poets of the twentieth century, I had much interest in reading T. S. Eliot’s work.  With the help of the detailed forward in the text and a summary from http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/eliot/section1.html, I was able to somewhat understand the poem’s style and purpose and come up with my own interpretation of the poem.

As a lengthy monologue that explores the character’s emotional state, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” ironically portrays Prufrock’s fear of rejection, low self esteem, and high regards to external judgment and opinions.  At the same time, the poem also gives Prufrock a humble personality with almost an obsessive compulsive attachment to the one he loves, which he has yet to confront.  In the following paragraphs, I will try to provide some light to support my assertion.

The first interesting point to note is Eliot’s inclusion of Dante’s Inferno passage of a “damned soul” (1194 footnote).  The soul justifies that he will reveal his name without fear of shame or judgment for he knows that he can never return back to life, and thus have no reason to hide his shame and condemnation.  Like the soul, Eliot’s character Prufrock can openly express the depths of his heart without ever worrying it to reach the one he fancies or anyone else for this is just a monologue that will forever stay with him and him only.  Eliot wants the reader to know that these words are the true thoughts and emotions of his character that is free from bias.  Without anyone to judge or criticize, Prufrock can openly express his nature in this contemplative string of questions and answers.

Ironically, Eliot’s “love song” is not meant for the one he wants to confess, but rather more for him to serve as a path to realization or resolution.  This is apparent with his use of repetitive questions such as “Would it have been worth while… Would it have been worth while… Would it have been worth while” (1196-1197, verse 90, 100, 106).  He constantly questions himself whether love is a reasonable trade for the possibility of rejection.  Prufrock can only sing this song alone due to his inability to confront and reveal his love.  Instead of the reasons for his love, he gives the reasons for his hesitation.

The poem starts off by giving a setting of gossiping women speaking of great artists in the lines “in the room the women come and go, Talking of Michelangelo” (verse 13-14 of page 1195).  This is of particular importance in that Eliot’s character is highly conscious of what others think of him.  Here, he indirectly sets the standard very high for himself as he introduces the great painter.  His self conscience and high affect of others criticism is reinforced as he constantly notices their chatter of Michelangelo through Eliot’s purposeful repetition of the aforementioned lines now evident in verses 35-36.

The monologue continues as Prufrock is self conscious of his appearance, of his “bald spot in the middle of [his] hair” (1195).  He remarks:

(They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”)
…
For I have known them all already, known them all—
…
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
…
And I have known the eyes already, known them all—
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
(1195-1196)

Here we can see that Eliot makes use of the repetition of “known” and “all” to show the bombardment of his character’s criticism.  They “pin” him on the wall measure his worth like a scientist who measures with formulas except that theirs are “formulated phrase.”  With all these “eyes” fixated upon him, how can he ever confront his love (“So how should I presume?... And how should I presume?”).  His lack of confidence due to their critical presence is evident as he repeats “How should I presume… How should I presume?” (verse 54, 61, and 69 page 1195-1195).  Since this is an internal monologue, the author openly describes the characters humanistic qualities of low self esteem, confidence, and indecisiveness to act.  Eliot gives the reader an account of what goes on behind the thoughts of a person who cannot voice his love, while being torn and tormented by not only their self consciousness, but also the people and his affects of their judgments.  The fear of his love’s friends approval is clear as he states “There will be a time, there will be a time to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet” (1195).  Prufrock’s many useless attempts to confront his fear is portrayed through Eliot’s elegant use of repetition, as the character states “Do I dare?... Do I dare?... And how should I presume… And how should I begin… And in short, I was afraid” (1195-1196).

Eliot even gives an account of his character’s climactic chance to confess his love in the following lines:

And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!
Smoothed by long fingers,
Asleep… tired… or it malingers,
Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
Thought I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet—and here’s no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.
(1196)

The ending of the evening gives us a feeling that his chance is coming to an end and that time is running out.  As he is left alone next to her after their romantic “tea and cakes and ices,” he can’t seem to have the energy to overcome the “crisis” of telling her his feelings.  I can almost feel his heart beating deeply as he comes so close to this defining moment only to give up due to its uncertainty (“I am no prophet”) and the “snicker” of others (the “Footman”).  Even though he has already visualized his rejection (“Though I have seen my head brought in upon a platter”) as the fall of John the Baptist, he is still “afraid” of the outcome (footnote 1196).  Even his “wept, fast, and pray” was not enough to help him face his fears, and thus, served no purpose.  It is sad for in the end, the “human voices wakes [him], and [he] drowns” for it is not their words that is his fall, but effects of those words, and his weak fortitude against them that is the cause of his failure (1197).

In the final stanzas, Eliot resolves the character's final thoughts of experience with love and beauty of women as he gives an analogy of it to the sirens of the sea (I believe this may be a reference to the sirens in Greek mythology).

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.
…
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.
(1197)

In Greek mythology, the sirens were known for leering men to their deaths with their beauty and hypnotic voices as the rocks crush their boats as they come near.  Eliot’s analogy serves beautifully to show the causes of Prufrock’s miseries for “voice” is an important factor in this poem with its significant effects on Prufrock.

In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Eliot succeeds to show the emotions, feelings, and shortcomings of a character experienced with the tragedy of love, that is so representative of the modernistic poets of the twentieth century.  The flow of his verses are smooth as his rhymes, although appearing at random, were structured carefully to be enjoyed most when read aloud as one line follows the next with resonance of repetition.

William Butler Yeats’ “No Second Troy”

Like many modern poets of the late 19^th/early 20^th century, William Butler Yeats suffered from the experiences of (as the forward puts it) “unrequited love” (1115).  It is beneficial in knowing that unlike them, Yeats was rather persistent in his chase for the “beloved” and “statuesque beauty” Maud Gonne.  His extra effort is what pushed his misery further than that of any other common modernistic poet.  And it was only for her political “fanaticism” that prevented Yeats’ success in winning her heart as she marries a revolutionist instead (1115).  Time and time again, he would, as if by fate, be kindly rejected for his inquire of marriage (1116).  It was not until he met Georgiana Hyde-Lees that he is finally freed from his chase for the untouchable love he so fervently desired.  The experiences of tragic love and his maturity through it set the tone of the modernistic “No Second Troy.”

Using Helen of Troy for comparison, Yeats describes the dangers and miseries tied to beauty with respect to Gonne. In verses 2-5, even if men (I believe he is actually referring to himself but giving man as an example) “had courage equal to [their] desire… she would of late” still teach them in most “violent ways or hurled the little streets upon the great.”  If we consider these lines figuratively, we can interpret her “violent ways” and “hurling of little streets” as the dangerous thorns of love.  Not in the physical sense, but perhaps in the mental sense, for she is like Helen of Troy, in that the men among her will fight and be tormented by her beauty that is “like a tightened bow,” full of danger.  A danger that is so hard for them to overcome, as Yeats painful past illustrates.  Regardless of their efforts, they will still suffer the pains of unrequited love.  Yeats analogy of Gonne to Helen of Troy successfully portrays the warring nature of his mind and its final resolution. (1118)

It is evident that he does not blame her for his pains as he questions rhetorically “Why should [he] blame her?” for she is the source of his “days…filled…with misery” (1118).  The answer is finally given in the verses “Why, what could she have done being what she is?”  It was not her choice to be born of “fire” and “beauty” and that their sufferings are the result of their own discontent (I came to realize this from help of http://www.poetryfeast.com/no-second-troy/%20Criticism%20and%20Analysis). (1118)

Finally, Yeats asks the remaining question “Was there another Troy for her to burn?”  The answer lies in the title itself:  “No Second Troy.”  I interpreted (with help from http://www.eliteskills.com/analysis_poetry/No_Second_Troy_by_William_Butler_Yeats_analysis.php) the answer to be Yeats surrender and forgiveness to the “misery” that was caused by his unreachable love.  He no longer wants to rage a war to make her the cause of burning a “Second Troy,” knowing that he can never achieve her “spiritual and emotional consummation” (1115).

Considering his past experiences with love, we can see that “No Second Troy” is Yeats’ resolution to the tiring chase of the beautifully dangerous Maud Gonne.  It has come to my attention as to why so many great poets at the time experienced so many hardships of imperfect love.  But then, the very existence of these tragic experiences is what has induce the limits of their minds thoughts and emotions, necessary in creating the great works that they did.  As the forward suggests, “Blake taught that ‘without Contraries is no progression,’ and Yeats, that ‘all the gains of man come from conflict with the opposite of his true being’” (1116).  It's only through hardships do we ever grow and strengthen the most, for if we can past these tests of peril, there exists no tougher hardships we cannot overcome.  “No Second Troy” holds true to the opposing views of a perfect Romanticist’s love story.

Wilfred Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth”

Wilfred Owen shared views with Siegfried Sassoon, in that the spoils of War are no more than the injustice slaughter of soldiers alike.  Like Sassoon, he also enlisted in the French Lancashire Fusiliers as lieutenant.  And like Sassoon, he also experienced “shell-shock” from “unimaginable privations” and “being blown into the air while he slept in a foxhole” (1100).  As a result, his poetry portrayed the realistic horrors of war with vivid imagery and emotions of despair.  Particularly in “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” instead of a patriotic song of praise, ironically, Owen sings the sad song in honor of the young soldiers’ meaningless deaths.

Owen expresses the value of soldiers in war to that of “cattle” as their lives are disposable by the “monstrous anger of the guns.”  Their deaths are not acknowledged with “passing-bells,”  “mockeries,” “prayers,” or “voice of mourn.”  Only the next soldier is the next object of the “stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle.”  The only songs for their deaths are the “shrill” and “choirs of wailing shells.”  Owens use of imagery vividly expresses the meaninglessness of War through the close encounters of the front line as well as its devaluing of human life. In addition, Owen’s use of alliteration and choice of word in the lines “Only the monstrous anger of the guns.  Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons” gives us the feelings of intense anger and violence of war as well as the helplessness of the soldiers’ inevitable destruction.  In these lines, War gives them no mercer, even in their prayers.  (1100-1101)

The hopelessness is further portrayed as the author describes the “glimmers of good-byes” in the "eyes" of the “boy."  Nothing awaits them at home but the “pallor of girls’ brows” and “flowers the tenderness of patient minds."  It's as if their deaths have been set in stone and only a funeral is what remains waiting for them at home.  Owens illustrates to the reader that the young soldier’s life diminishes everyday at “each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.”  This gives us feelings of grief, despair, and helplessness as they have already died, and all we can do is shut our eyes (“drawing-down of blinds”) to the errors we have made. (1101)

They put their lives on the line only to be “cattle” to the preys of War’s destruction.  They are there to protect us, but who is there to protect them.  Ironically, it is the very weapons that will kill them that serve as their only protector.  We cannot forget that a nation is not only the people back at home, but also the ones on the front lines.  Unfortunately, it is their duty to serve and risk their lives for their nation and the greater good.  They are the few sacrifices to save the thousands.  But is it just, when we consider that many were even forced by drafts?  Is it really something to be proud of when the men sent to the front line never had a choice?  Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth” is exactly that, a song and cry for the injustice and cruel nature of War.  It is this song that acknowledges their deaths to be no more valued on the battlefield than the lives of “cattle” on a farm. (1101)

Siegfried Sassoon’s “Glory of Women”

As a poet during the Great War, Seigfried Sassoon expressed opposing views to the extreme patriotic Rupert Brooke.  Unlike Brooke, his first encounter of war was none other than on the front line itself, where the grotesque of war is experienced to the fullest.  Sassoon held opposing views of the war for he has seen its true nature.  Sassoon is not a coward, for even he was awarded a metal for helping a “wounded soldier to safety during heavy fire” (1099).  But rather, he did not agree with the nature and violence that erupts within war.  And he witnessed every bit of this while eyes on the home front were covered with idealistic and flowery words of patriotism.

In “Glory of Women,” Sassoon portrays the false idolizing of the men of War and their faming patriotism.  In this piece, “Women” do not necessarily represent the wives and mothers of the soldiers, but rather the people of England, and England herself, who are blinded behind the lines of War’s cruelties.  With a scolding tone, Sassoon criticizes “women” of their judgments on soldiers and their love, idolism, and commendment of their men's heroism (“You love us when we’re heroes”) and famous engagement (“wounded in a mentionable place”) .  It is the “decorations” that they really worship, and not their men.  Because Sassoon tried to escape going back to war and went so far as to “avoid court-martialed” and leaving for the excuse of “shell shock,” it may have been apparent that he received much criticism for what seems to be cowardice.  However, here, Sassoon shows the injustice of the very people he went out twice on the field with his life on the line in order to protect.  Disregarding his opposition of the war, they have forgotten his sacrifice for the country over his beliefs. (1099)

He further demoralizes their beliefs by showing the invalidity of “chivalry” for the excuse of “war’s disgrace” (1099).  Is it a valid reason to kill, as long as it is for a good purpose?  What to it is one of the 10 commandments of the Bible “Thall Shall not Kill.”  As long as we have a reason, can we pass our injustice actions off for the sake of judgment?  Is it really justice when the means detest the ends?

On the front line, the many troops they see as “heroes” will “retire… When hell’s last horror breaks them, and they run, Trampling the terrible corpses—blind with blood.”  Giving examples of the grotesque of war, Sassoon gives accounts of their countrymen “breaking” in the midst of fire.  What they see as patriotism is no more than the common soldier’s “Hell.” (1099)

Sassoon also uses irony when he states the ignorance of “German mother[s]” knitting the socks to send to their son the very moment their “face is trodden deeper in the mud.”  Back on the home front, war is not as real to the people as it is on the front line.  The only consequence they see are the “mourn [of their] laurelled memories when [they’re] killed.”  They cannot see the fire, the hell, and the injustice of war to its participants. (1099)

It is interesting to see the views of Sassoon to consider both sides of the story.  Only those that recognize this and still choose war have accepted its injustice and agreed to the leverage of their sacrifices, and that is to save a thousand with that of one.  It is not idealistic in logic or reason, but it is still rational for the practicality of life this is as close to justice as we can achieve, for there exist those in the universe where words will never reach.

Rupert Brooke’s “The Soldier”

In “The Soldier,” Brooke praises the country with much patriotism and sacrifice.  During the times of the Great War, Brooke was influenced by the purpose and reasons of war.  Why they are fighting and what is to come of it?  In this piece, we can see the idealistic views of valor and patriotism for the country of England.

Opening the poem is a feeling of self sacrifice as we read “If I should die, think only this of me” (1098).  Immediately, we can see his foreshadow of death that exists in every soldiers mind as he sets foot into service.  He knows that by nature, war is a fight until death, and that this line shows their acceptance of a fateful death.

The justifying reason of the fight for England is announced as the author states “there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England.  There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed.”  Even though the soldier knows of his death, he claims that it is without a purpose, and to die for his Nation is above any other “rich[es].”  Literally, his definition of England’s “rich” is that of the nation’s Land, its history that it has “bore, shaped, [and made] aware,” as well as its people with their “body of England’s, breathing English air.”  Brooke’s word choice and use of imagery gives good symbolism of patriotism and the fight for one’s own nation.   The “flowers to love” and “English air” are the vitalities of the country that gives him the life and strength to sacrifice himself for the country. (1098-1099)

The last stanza becomes even more personal as the reasons run deep to his heart, to his “pulse,” just for England’s “sights and sounds” to be “happy” as in her “dreams.”  “And laughter learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under and English heaven” (1099).  The brightness and hopeful tone of this last stanza show the motivation for such a fight.  These are the “richer dust concealed… in that rich earth” of England.  It is no surprise that Brooke had so much patriotism that he immediately enlisted when the War first started in 1914.

In "The Soldier," Brooke successfully creates a poem that lights the honor and idealistic reasons in justifying the sacrifice of a heroic soldier for everything that encompasses his country from the "rich dust" of England to the "breath" and "happy... sights and sounds [of]" "friends" "laughters" (1099).  Reading this poem gives the energy, motivation, and drive necessary for the moralizing of the nations troops.  It is no surprise that it this poem "immortalized" Brooke as it was "read aloud at Sait Paul's Cathedral in London on Easter Sunday, 1915" for it represents the "symbol of English pride" (1097).

If this work was written at any other time, it may have not gained its fame and recognition.  However, during the first of the three Great Wars, this poem reflected the minds of many individuals who fought for their country while serving as their fuel and motivation.  Although commendable, the poem lacks the true nature of War, and that is there are no rules or fairness at the lowest levels, and that in what we see as just and right lies the deaths of the innocents for war is the fight between the higher powers.  War is not between the countries, but rather between the leaders, and among ideals.  The country and its people are left to experience the consequences, whether right or wrong for War knows no peace.  At its roots, War is the ultimate tool of killing and eradication where not the most righteous prevails, but the fittest.   If the evilest powers of human kind raged wars against all, in the end, the evil will win as long as it holds the strongest powers and most fearsome weapons.  We are fortunate that Hitler himself did not hold the key to the Atomic Bomb, even though we regret ever attaining knowledge capable of such peril.  It is not the tools of war that are evil, but people.  Unfortunately, it’s the strongest people, whether good or bad, who prevails, if there was ever absence of justice or gods.  Although I am impressed with the skill of the author, I can’t but help to see this poem as more than an idealistic piece used to promote men into war without portraying the cruel realities that lies behind its curtains.  Patriotism is but a mirage for the true natures of war.  I’m not saying that the purpose of Brooke’s work here is propaganda for the war, for they may very well reflect his true thoughts and emotions at the time.  Rather, I just wanted to address the other side of the coin that cannot be found in this particular piece.

Thomas Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush"

I must say, for a better reason of finishing my posts for Dr. Glance, dissecting Hardy’s poems is quite fun and mentally rewarding, bringing good memories from the time I first read William Blake’s poetic works.  The poets do amaze me with their wordsmanship, style, and a deeper understanding that’s more than what meets the surface.  To be able to inquire the mind of such deep contemplations, it allows the reader to gain intuition and wisdom through their own realizations and inference.  Their works seem to spark the beginning of reason and logic that leads one to a natural conclusion created by the mind.  It is amazing that poetry can create universal knowledge that is only gained from thinking, rather than from reading.  Much fun is it that literature can give the human mind, that which is capable of understanding the hidden meanings and deeper thoughts of one another.

So in that respect, I must continue to indulge myself in another of Hardy’s fine work, “The Darkling Thrush.”

Published at exactly the turn of the century (December 31, 1900), Hardy’s “The Darkling Thrush” was meant not only as a memorial for the past, but also as a celebration and birth of a new era full of change not only in technological ways, but also in literary culture and styles (what we know as the modernistic movement).  It is evident that in this poem, we find Hardy’s common themes of darkness filled with observations of nature’s natural aging, but also with the hint of human hopes and dreams of a better future.

The dark and “desolate” setting of this piece is illustrated by Hardy’s fine use of imagery.  “Frost was spectre-gray” and “Winter’s dregs made desolate the weakening eye of day” (1074).  The grey tones and residue buildup from a cold winter sets the dark mood that resembles the end of the fourth season as it is the end of the last century.  Hardy specifically chose the end of winter to represent this time of change as it is before the season of birth, spring.

The colors and tone of the setting is as if we are at a funeral for the passing era or at the deathbed of it as it slowly dies off with the “weakening eye of day.”  The “tangled bine-stems scored the sky like strings of broken lyres” gives us an impression that the old times have aged and it is now their time to rest as a broken harp needs to be laid down when it is over used.  Beautiful music can no longer be played.  The most difficult lines for me to understand were “And all mankind that haunted nigh had sought their household fires.”  What exactly did Hardy mean by this?  It may be that searching for “their household fires” was a symbolism of action to end the old era, with the burning of the old and broken stringed “lyres.”

The scenery is further dramatized as a graveyard when Hardy illustrates:

The land's sharp features seemed to be
The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
(1075)

The image is morbid, with a glimpse of the dying times as the old “Century’s corpse outleant.”  This image of a corpse leaning out from a coffin shows the presence of age and end of the old era.  As the clouds serve as the coffin’s lid (“His crypt the cloudy canopy”), the winds serve as the crying voice of his (“the old Century”) departure (“the wind his death-lament”).  Although the old times will die, they will still be mourned and remembered. (1075)

The next stanza describes a “blast-beruffled plume” of “aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small” singing the songs of unlimited “joy.”  The bird seems as “fervourless as [he, being the author],” and is a representative of man’s emotional state.  The bird is but another “spirit upon earth” that shares the same remorse as well as celebration of the old/new century’s death/birth.  This duality view can be identified in the bird’s “carolings” even though it ends up “fling[ing] his soul upon the growing gloom.”  Hardy gives the presence of happiness and sadness all in the same stanza to show the emotional state of the minds during this turning point in time.  Hardy was one of those authors that always look at both sides of a coin, but more judgment and emphasis was placed on the darker side of things.  We can see the empowerment of darkness over light in previously referenced lines. (1075)

Like his other works, this one holds true to his style as it portrays the glimmer of hope, light, and reason in a setting overtaken by darkness.  This is important to note since it implies the strength of his characters and of himself.  Even in the face of the darkest moments, he manages to find, or create light and hope, while keeping the possibility of a brighter future in his awareness:  “So little cause for carolings… was written on terrestrial things… that I could think there trembled through… some blessed Hope, whereof he knew, and I was unaware.”  Although the hope is small and little, it is strong for it can “tremble through” the darkness.  Even if the author himself is empty of light, the creature remains filled with this “blessed Hope” that only “[the bird itself] knew.”  Hardy acknowledges that there exists goodness in the world even though it is not in his presence or awareness. (1075)

Even though Hardy has a distaste for the old era, why is it that the celebration of a new century so dark and “desolate” at the same time?  Like many of the modernistic poets, Hardy was against the industrial movement and realizes it’s abomination to nature.  England is being changed for the sacrifice of the natural good, and this serves as the reason for the change in literature.  There must be change in the arts to show the corruptions of the land resulting from technological advancement and materialistic greed.  Even against this direction of change (this darkness), Hardy still has hope for England, and acknowledges the existence of a reform, with poetry and literary means as his tools.  The movement that was once ignited by Bernard Shaw has now picked up pace and Hardy has jumped on the moving train to alert the people of the dangers of the new Century.