Thomas Hardy's Poetry on Religion

Poetry is a ceremonial form and ceremonies can help mollify us to the aspects of our human experience which are themselves irreconcilable. (Haslam & angstrom; Turton) How do at least three of Hardys poems about religion and mental rejection attempt to do this?

Ceremonies mark most rites of passage in our lives. Parties and festivals mark happier events while rituals and funerals occur at sadder times. As well as assisting the deceaseds passing to an afterlife, these black-tie occasions also go to ameliorate the grief of those left behind. This is the irreconcilable aspect of human existence to which the apparent movement refers. The formal structure (or ceremony) of poetry predisposed Hardy to this genre. Its constitutional form allowed him to explore many of the dualistic tendencies he encountered in life (not least Darwins theories versus religious orthodoxy) in a frequently freer and truer way than he tangle he had been able to in his fiction.

Hardy spent his childhood as a believing Christian, eer-changing to agnosticism in adulthood. Although seen through the eyes of a four-year-old girl, the poem In Church (338) to some extent re-lives this change.



later on the emotion felt by an entire congregation in the runner section, the illusion is shattered when the girl sees the priest mimicking the actions of the service in the vestry:

        [She]

        Sees her idol stand with a satisfied smile

        And re-enact at the vestry glass

        Each pulpit gesture in deaf-dumb-show.

The formal structure of the poem conveys the dramatic loss of innocence felt far more succinctly than a discussion ever could.

        

Hardys scepticism over the existence of God is not as surprising as the fact that he still acknowledge that human beings needed a firm moral source if ...general barbarism and personal despair are not to prevail. (Haslam & Turton, Religion section).

If you want to get a full essay, ordain it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com



If you want to get a full essay, wisit our page: write my paper