The most interesting poem to me by Hardy that we read was the one entitled Hap. It is about a man who was going through times of suffering. It was interesting me because the narrator seemed able to handle it if it made him unique, but was bothered only if it was incidental.
"If but some vengeful god would call to me
From up the sky and laugh: "Thou suffering thing,
Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,
That thy love's loss is my hate's profiting." (1073)
So the writer would accept this pain if it was caused specifically for him. This was interesting to me for a person to accept vengeance for something that was not caused by them. It did not say the vengeful god was upset about anything the narrator said, but he was willing to suffer the consequences if it was caused by this god. It is also an interesting idea put forth by the writer that a God would find solace in the suffering of mere mortals. I guess its just hard for me to come to terms with this due to my beliefs on God.
"Then would I bear it, clench myself, and die,
Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited;
Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I
Had willed and meted me the tears I shed" (1073)
So the writer finds some solace in the belief that this fate was meant for him. Without this sense of uniqueness, the pain the writer suffers is just pain. When it is caused by a god though, it distinguishes the person. It seems like we often make excuses for bad times that may come upon them or find reasons to make it important.
2 comments:
Jeremy,
Interesting exploration of Hardy's "Hap." I don't think he is saying he believes that a vengeful deity is responsible for his unique suffering, though, but rather he could bear the suffering better if it were so. At the end he seems to say that uncaring, random forces are responsible.
I took the poem pretty much the same way you did. i feel that all things that God put us through should be purposeful. i felt the speaker was a little too focused on himslef though
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