Thomas Hardy

Ever the one to approach things in a backward manner...or maybe needing the respite of prose, I read Hardy's "On the Western Circuit" before either the background material or his poetry. For me, the story started out rather slowly but Hardy paid great attention to developing each character and bringing them to life. I suppose that I must have grown up incredibly protected as I didn't realize that writers produced what must have been considered racey stories in the Victorian Age. But alas, the story is one of tragedy with both Raye and Mrs. Harnham ending up without the one they truly desired.

Similarly tragic is Hardy's The Convergence of the Twain (Lines on the loss of the "Titanic"). Here he writes "In a solitude of the sea / Deep from human vanity, / And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she" (I, 1-3). He infers that man's desire to build something so magnificant must have surely played a role in the tragedy which befell the ship. He wonders if the ship and the iceberg were on an unchangeable course toward one another from their earliest beginnings when he says "Alien they seemed to be: / No mortal eye could see / The intimate welding of their later history," (IX, 1-3). This reminded me of the tragedy of Raye & Mrs. Harnham and how they were set on their course toward one another as soon as Raye steps into the market and toward the merry-go-round where he first sees Anna.

Of course this brings me to my often stated belief that everyone we come in contact, no matter how great or small the contact...somehow becomes a part of who we are and our total life experience. Fortunantly, most of our contacts do not lead to tragic ends...but even those that do somehow leave us richer or better for them...

Okay, I'm getting off my pontificating box for awhile...'til next time of course.