Thomas Hardy

I really liked these poems by Hardy. He seems to be very in touch with his sensual side and it shows in his poetry. I really loved "On the Departure Platform." This poem is that of a classic love story. It was so sweet how he talked about watching his love walk away and get lost in the distance, "She left me, and moment by moment got smaller and smaller, until to my view she was but a spot" (pg. 1075). This is one of those poems that anyone, whether you've been in love or not, can relate to and fully understand. I didn't quite understand the last few lines of the 5th stanza, "And in season she will appear again--Perhaps in the same soft white array--But never as then!" I'm not sure if he's saying his love will soon come back to him after her trip has ended or if he means he will see her again but only in spirit or through his dreams.

"Logs on the Earth" was another Hardy poem that really touched me. My uncle recently died so I can relate to this poem but in a different way of course. It was sweet how he was reliving a particular moment he had with his sister before she died. What made it more touching was how simple the memory was, climbing a tree. It's always the simple and seemingly boring events that tend to have a huge affect on people whe they look back at there lives and this is a prime example of that. It's great that Hardy was willing to share this memory of his late sister with the world through his poetry.