Works of Thomas Hardy discussion

DITTY
(E. L G.)

Beneath a knap where flown
Nestlings play,
Within walls of weathered stone,
Far away
From the files of formal houses,
By the bough the firstling browses,
Lives a Sweet: no merchants meet,
No man barters, no man sells
Where she dwells.

Upon that fabric fair
“Here is she!”
Seems written everywhere
Unto me.
But to friends and nodding neighbours,
Fellow-wights in lot and labours,
Who descry the times as I,
No such lucid legend tells
Where she dwells.

Should I lapse to what I was
Ere we met;
(Such can not be, but because
Some forget
Let me feign it)—none would notice
That where she I know by rote is
Spread a strange and withering change,
Like a drying of the wells
Where she dwells.

To feel I might have kissed—
Loved as true—
Otherwhere, nor Mine have missed
My life through.
Had I never wandered near her,
Is a smart severe—severer
In the thought that she is nought,
Even as I, beyond the dells
Where she dwells.

And Devotion droops her glance
To recall
What bond-servants of Chance
We are all.
I but found her in that, going
On my errant path unknowing,
I did not out-skirt the spot
That no spot on earth excels,
—Where she dwells!

When Hardy wrote this poem, he put the date 1870 next to it, but it wasn't published until 1898 in his first poetry collection Wessex Poems and Other Verses. The subtitle "E.L.G." refers to Hardy's first wife, Emma Lavinia Gifford.

As you all may recall, Emma and Tom met in March 1870 when Tom went to Cornwall on business as an architect to the rectory at St. Juliot. That was the beginning of their relationship. They would wait four long years to be married on Sept 17, 1874. There are a few poems Hardy wrote early on about young Emma Gifford, and this is one of them.

I think it shows Hardy's romantic side quite well. Given all that would fall apart between Emma and Tom later on, it's nice to read about how deeply he felt about her "That no spot on earth excels,/--Where she dwells"

I also like seeing Hardy's signature wordplay with lines like "Is a smart severe -- severer" that's quite a clever way to play with those two words that almost look and sound alike, but aren't quite homophones.

Bridget, thank you for introducing us to this early love poem written when Hardy was a young man. While I've read many of Hardy's poems remembering Emma after her death, this early poem is new to me.

I especially like the last stanza where he writes:

What bond-servants of Chance
We are all.

I enjoy hearing stories of how couples have met, and Chance or Fate plays a big part in giving us the opportunity to fall in love with someone.

It's a lovely poem, thanks Bridget. My favourite verse is the first one, simply because it begins with Nature and is so romantic, as you say.

I like the title too. In English "Ditty" means a short, simple song or lyric, and this exactly describes both the content and the mood, I think. A young man's fancy has turned to love ...

Thank you so much for putting the poem into context, Bridget, and reminding us that (E. L G.) must be Emma. Apparently it is the only poem which he dedicated directly to his first wife.

His second wife Florence says that he altered the text in the third verse:

"Should I lapse to what I was
Ere we met;
(Such can not be, but because
Some forget
Let me feign it)—none would notice ..."

The text had been altered from: "Some loves die" to "Some forget". It would be interesting to know when this was, as the sentiment is very different. Was it around the time when the poem was written I wonder, or years later, when the relationship between Thomas and Emma was growing apart. I suspect the latter, myself.

I was also wondering about the location, as Bridget tells us that Tom went to Cornwall on business as an architect to the rectory at St. Juliot. (I think he was living in London at the time.)

Apparently it is thought to be St. Juliot Church, partly because of Hardy's descriptive text in the poem and more specifically "walls of weathered stone".



wikipedia commons

Here's an interesting article about Thomas Hardy's connection with that church https://www.britainexpress.com/counti...

and wiki on it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Juli...

(linking now)

Thanks so much for sharing this early poem, Bridget, and the details. I too enjoyed the Ditty, felt the romantic through the flow and the pace of the stanzas. Quite charming in its way.

I love: what bond-servants of chance we are all.

Bionic Jean wrote: "The text had been altered from: "Some loves die" to "Some forget". It would be interesting to know when this was, as the sentiment is very different. ..."

I did not know Hardy changed the lines of the poem. That's interesting. Did you find that in the biography that Florence "wrote" (which was likely written by Hardy himself).

I think you are right, Jean, the change must have happened after Tom and Emma drifted apart. I know Emma was unhappy that many of the poems in Wessex Poems and Other Verses were about other women. And then there were poems like "The Ivy-Wife", which Pamela just lead, that she felt were negative about her as well. But this poem seems to be one that should have made her happy. The problem was that by 1898, when the poems were published, Emma and Tom were not in a good place. I'm not sure anything would have made Emma happy at that point.

Bionic Jean wrote: "I was also wondering about the location, as Bridget tells us that Tom went to Cornwall on business as an architect to the rectory at St. Juliot. (I think he was living in London at the time.)

App..."

Thank you, Jean, for including the picture of the St. Juliot church. I had not connected "walls of weathered stone" to that church, but that makes sense! Emma's brother-in-law was the rector there, and Emma was living there at the time Hardy came.

I loved the link you provided too! The plaque and the window dedicated to Emma an Tom's romance is heartwarming. I suppose fans of Hardy's work often travel there to see the church. It's lovely for them to have these remembrances of the couple to see.

John wrote: "I love: what bond-servants of chance we are all."

Yes, John and Connie, that is such a great line. It really stays in my head, and its easy to feel connected to it, I think.

Bridget wrote: "Did you find that in the biography that Florence "wrote" (which was likely written by Hardy himself) ..."

Yes, apparently she wrote it in The Life of Thomas Hardy 1840-1928, which was based very much on his unpublished autobiography, as you say. But I can't check the reference I'm afraid, because it's at home.

I thought I would post a picture of the young Emma Lavinia Gifford to go with this discussion. This painting hangs in the Dorset County Museum. I wasn't able to figure out who painted it. Does anyone know??

It's a lovely portrait, by an unknown artist of the "British school". It was a gift from Gordon Gifford to the museum in Dorchester in 1949.

The Dorset County Museum in Dorchester ("Casterbridge") is a lovely traditional museum on two floors and a gallery, with lots of fossils etc., and they have now put all their artefacts to do with Thomas Hardy (his desk, various first drafts etc.) in one room.

Thanks for posting this, Bridget.