Works of Thomas Hardy discussion

The Torn Letter

I

I tore your letter into strips
No bigger than the airy feathers
That ducks preen out in changing weathers
Upon the shifting ripple-tips.

II

In darkness on my bed alone
I seemed to see you in a vision,
And hear you say: “Why this derision
Of one drawn to you, though unknown?”

III

Yes, eve’s quick mood had run its course,
The night had cooled my hasty madness;
I suffered a regretful sadness
Which deepened into real remorse.

IV

I thought what pensive patient days
A soul must know of grain so tender,
How much of good must grace the sender
Of such sweet words in such bright phrase.

V

Uprising then, as things unpriced
I sought each fragment, patched and mended;
The midnight whitened ere I had ended
And gathered words I had sacrificed.

VI

But some, alas, of those I threw
Were past my search, destroyed for ever:
They were your name and place; and never
Did I regain those clues to you.

VII

I learnt I had missed, by rash unheed,
My track; that, so the Will decided,
In life, death, we should be divided,
And at the sense I ached indeed.

VIII

That ache for you, born long ago,
Throbs on; I never could outgrow it.
What a revenge, did you but know it!
But that, thank God, you do not know.

First published in the English Review in December 1910. It was included in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries with Miscellaneous Pieces.

Thomas Hardy received many letters from unknown admirers and critics, people asking for advice, and those who had been emotionally touched by his work. Many of these letters are now in the Dorset Country Museum.

The Later Years of Thomas Hardy, 1892–1928 by Florence Emily Hardy mentions that after the publication of Tess of the D’Urbervilles Hardy received many letters from wives who had a past similar to Tess. They were afraid to tell their husband about their past, and asked Hardy for advice because it was weighing on them. Hardy would never write back and never mentioned their names to anyone, keeping their secrets. He tore up their letters in little pieces as described in the poem. So we know he had the habit of tearing up letters in small pieces, and was very discreet with his correspondence.

The narrator in the poem might be Hardy, but it also could be some unknown narrator, even a woman. Does anyone have any feelings about who is the narrator, and who is the letter writer (in general terms, not a specific person)? There are no wrong guesses so use your imagination. Of course, any other comments about the poem are welcome too.

What a fascinating poem, and your explanation too Connie! Thank you so much.

I wonder why the narrator wanted to conserve the letter. At first I assumed it was a lovers' tiff, and could be written by a man or a woman, but your information makes me think in a wider sense.

Did Thomas Hardy know who had written it, perhaps, or was he attracted by the contents? Did he want to remember those for a story or poem?

Or, thinking of that final stanza, could this be yet another poem about Emma?

"That ache for you, born long ago,
Throbs on; I never could outgrow it."

I believed Florence knew that he still pined for his first wife, although he had treated her so badly in later life. Perhaps this was an early love letter from Emma, secretly kept, and when Tom (now widowed and married again) tore it up, he regretted it?

Now linked to our list.

"But some, alas, of those I threw
Were past my search, destroyed for ever:
They were your name and place; and never
Did I regain those clues to you."

It seems like the narrator destroyed the name and address of the writer, then had second thoughts. I'm reading it that he didn't know the letter writer. So that's a great idea that it contained contents that would make a good story or poem, Jean.

The contents might have referred to a social occasion that later rang a bell with him. A famous writer gets introduced to quite a few people and he can't remember them all.

Maybe some woman's praise of him or his work made him feel that the person really understood him as a person. It was a lost opportunity to meet the perfect woman for him. There are lots of possibilities out there!

Oh I like all those too! Yes, you're right of course; it couldn't have been Emma. I do like this contemplative poem Connie😊

I had a similar reaction to Jean. I thought it was a lover's fight, and then Connie's comment broadened my thinking.

The lines: "And hear you say: “Why this derision/Of one drawn to you, though unknown?” - fit very well with a female reader of "Tess" writing to Hardy and confessing her secrets. (btw - how kind of Hardy to tear those letters into pieces and protect those secrets).

But then I can't figure out the last stanza:

That ache for you, born long ago,
Throbs on; I never could outgrow it.
What a revenge, did you but know it!
But that, thank God, you do not know.

If the letter writer is a stranger, why would she want revenge? And why would the narrator ache for her?

I started to wonder if this poem was written as a reaction to one of Hardy's flirtations. Hardy was known to flirt with many female writers (one of them, Florence Dugdale, became his second wife). But many of them did not return his affections.

There is Rosamund Tomson, who Hardy met at Lady Jeune’s house. She was a writer as well, and Hardy openly flirted with her in the summer of 1889. It’s around this time that Emma starts writing in her diary about the disappointments and resentments in her marriage.

The more famous flirtation is the first "Florence" the lovely Florence Henniker. Hardy's poem "The Terra-Cotta Dress" is written about her. Tom and Emma travel to Dublin in 1893, where they stay with Lord Houghton and his sister, Florence Henniker. This Florence is an upper-class woman. She is also a writer. But Mrs. Henniker does not return Tom’s advances. She is happy to remain friends with him, but nothing further happens. She did not want to cross the line established by the proprieties of church for a married woman.

Maybe one of these flirtations was the motivation for this poem?

At any rate this was a fun poem to puzzle through. Thank you, Connie!!

I really like the description in the first stanza of the little pieces of paper compared to duck feathers. That created a vivid image in my head!

Bridget wrote: "If the letter writer is a stranger, why would she want revenge? And why would the narrator ache for her?"

I took that line as the narrator's recognition that she <>deserved revenge about his initial cavalier treatment of her letter (even though she didn't know enough about that to actually want revenge). He might ache for her because he tends to want what he can't have. (IMO, it's also important to remember that the narrator is not necessarily Hardy; when he imagines long or short stories in verse, he can at times use first-person for a narrator who's not an alter ego of himself at all.)

Bridget wrote: "I had a similar reaction to Jean. I thought it was a lover's fight, and then Connie's comment broadened my thinking.

The lines: "And hear you say: “Why this derision/Of one drawn to you, though un..."

I was also thinking about some of Hardy's flirtations, but those women's names and addresses would have been known to him. Perhaps the unknown writer could be someone whose message was enticing, and he thought later, after he had torn up the letter, that he would enjoy flirting with her.

Werner wrote: "Bridget wrote: "If the letter writer is a stranger, why would she want revenge? And why would the narrator ache for her?"

I took that line as the narrator's recognition that she deserved revenge a..."

I'm reading that line the way you do, Werner. I've also pictured the narrator as a woman who gets an intriguing letter from a stranger who glimpsed her across a crowded room.

I like that the poem has an air of mystery about it.

So much to consider with this poem! I really enjoyed it and did wonder what type of missive if was. Thank you Connie for posting and for all the great comments.

Pamela wrote: "So much to consider with this poem! I really enjoyed it and did wonder what type of missive if was. Thank you Connie for posting and for all the great comments."

Pamela, Hardy has left us with a poem to puzzle out, and the letter might be just a product of his imagination.

I'm coming round to this idea as well Connie and Pamela. As Werner reminded us, there is a difference between a narrator's voice and an author's voice. Although sometimes there is no distinction, often an author will pull things from all over the place, to construct what appears to be a personal memory.

But I did appreciate Bridget's potted history of some of the women in his life. With all those memories - and probably quite a bit of fantasising, both at the time and in the present - what a rich puzzle he was able to weave for us.

I absolutely love the first stanza:
I tore your letter into strips
No bigger than the airy feathers
That ducks preen out in changing weathers
Upon the shifting ripple-tips.

The idea of our varying feelings about a person being like the "changing weathers" a duck has to navigate through is so creative. And that phrase "shifting ripple-tips" dances off the tongue.

I like the thought that Hardy is putting emotions from his own life into a character writing this poem, but so many interesting possibilities you all have come up with!

Kathleen wrote: "I absolutely love the first stanza:
I tore your letter into strips
No bigger than the airy feathers
That ducks preen out in changing weathers
Upon the shifting ripple-tips.

The idea of our varying..."

Kathleen, thanks for pointing out the lovely language that Hardy is using. "Airy," "changing," and "shifting" certainly reflect the narrator's feelings toward the writer of the letter.