Works of Thomas Hardy discussion

The Sleep-Worker

When wilt thou wake, O Mother, wake and see –
As one who, held in trance, has laboured long
By vacant rote and prepossession strong –
The coils that thou hast wrought unwittingly;

Wherein have place, unrealized by thee,
Fair growths, foul cankers, right enmeshed with wrong,
Strange orchestras of victim-shriek and song,
And curious blends of ache and ecstasy? –

Should that morn come, and show thy opened eyes
All that Life’s palpitating tissues feel,
How wilt thou bear thyself in thy surprise? –

Wilt thou destroy, in one wild shock of shame,
Thy whole high heaving firmamental frame,
Or patiently adjust, amend, and heal?

I feel strangely drawn to this poem, yet it also creates loads of questions. Like, who or what does "Mother" represent? Perhaps Nature? Than would "fair growths, foul cankers" reflect birth and death in plants, regions, weather?

Once again, I turn to my more experienced Hardy readers to enlighten me on this poem, which was published in Hardy's Poems of the Past and the Present from 1902.

I also feel that Mother is Mother Nature. Hardy has also called the unconscious, mechanical design of Nature by the phrase "the Immanent Will" in some of his other works. It's the idea of a cold, uninvolved Creator. Nature is sleeping while its work goes on in a mechanical way.

The narrator is questioning Mother Nature asking when she will wake up to an active role that shows awareness. There is much suffering, death, and chaos because Nature is so uninvolved and unawake. If she wakes and regards the world in a conscious manner, will she destroy the world in shame, or heal it?

This is an interesting philosophical poem, Pamela. While Hardy was raised in a religious household, he later gave much thought to the nature and existence of a Creator.

I agree with you both, the "Mother" must refer to Mother Nature. But it is such a bitter, almost resentful poem; it's the sort of poem I hesitate to read ...

"Strange orchestras of victim-shriek and song,
And curious blends of ache and ecstasy?"

My goodness!

Yes, it must I think be an outpouring of Thomas Hardy's religious doubts, as Connie said. Increasingly he began to agonise over questions of Faith, as we have seen most plainly in Tess of the D’Urbervilles: partly through the omniscient narrator and also via Angel Clare.

There is some hope at the end:

"Or patiently adjust, amend, and heal?"

A chance of reconciliation with his earlier views perhaps? Your interpretation is really interesting Connie. Somehow I feel there is less detachment by Thomas Hardy than this. He seems to be spitting venom! But perhaps he is trying to rationalise, and make sense of the world. That certainly fits his personality, and the more I think about it, the more I think you are on the right track, because of the title.

"The Sleep-Worker" must be referring to unseen forces guiding life, such as Nature or Fate. So it's a metaphor for a subconscious, powerful force which he suggests creates the world, including its joys and pains. With this interpretation, "Mother" refers to Nature which humanity is part of. So we are all in a trance, responding mechanically. Hmm.

Linking - and moving to currently reading again for now - thanks Pam!

Make sure you don't miss this poem everyone. It's quite unusual!

I like the way it expresses a broad feeling, with several possible applications (even within Nature itself) , as Pam references with "fair growths, foul cankers".