She, To Him IV
July 6, 2023Satires of Circumstance in Fifteen Glimpses VIII: In the St
July 6, 2023She Hears the Storm
There was a time in former years–
While my roof-tree was his–
When I should have been distressed by fears
At such a night as this!
I should have murmured anxiously,
‘The prickling rain strikes cold;
His road is bare of hedge or tree,
And he is getting old.’
But now the fitful chimney-roar,
The drone of Thorncombe trees,
The Froom in flood upon the moor,
The mud of Mellstock Leaze,
The candle slanting sooty-wick’d,
The thuds upon the thatch,
The eaves drops on the window flicked,
The clanking garden-hatch,
And what they mean to wayfarers,
I scarcely heed or mind;
He has won that storm-tight roof of hers
Which Earth grants all her kind.
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an English novelist and poet. His novels, including "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" and "Jude the Obscure," were known for their depictions of rural life and the struggles of ordinary people. His poetry often explored similar themes and had a strong sense of place.