“Hardy’s poetry has a morbid fascination with death” Write about this view. Saturday, 23 May 2015

Consider the title Write about the view – you are not obliged to agree. MORBID FASCINATION implies an unhealthy obsession Use the introduction to establish your position Consider the attitude of an elderly man who is faced by the death of a loved one. Consider the attitude to death seen elsewhere.

Aspects of Narrative. Do not try to write about ALL THE POEMS. Use 3 as main poems, refer to others. Language, settings, attitudes… Focus as much on how Hardy writes as on what he writes – no need to go into narrative mode yourself.

Language Euphemisms – do they suggest fascination or a reluctance to face up to death? Use of death as metaphor, such as in Thrush… Use of abstract ideas such as “haunting” as a normal part of life.

Settings Emma poems seem to show a normal framework seen through thoughtful eyes. Use of time as a means of linking life and death – Boterel Landscape is personified and Winter used suggesting that Death is a relevant thought – but Thrush sees hope…

Attitudes Hope is seen in the least likely places (Thrush) No conventional Christian afterlife is envisaged. Spirits live on after death in some form – Afterwards suggests a man worried about his legacy and aware of his own mortality. Emma poems show engagement with a grieving process of some sort.

Morbid Obsession? Why is he writing about death at all? Consider the context. Is it unhealthy? The idea of the grieving process might suggest the opposite. View about death and the continuation of the soul is potentially positive.