Analysis Of Thomas Hardy s Hap Essay - 1724 Words

Written in 1866, Thomas Hardy s poem Hap is a response to the nineteenth century movements of secularization and the Industrial Revolution. In the poem, Hardy echoes Christopher Marlowe s earlier wrestling with the question of predestination and free will. His narrator laments the heartbreak he faces because he is unable to place blame on a god bent on revenge. However, unlike Marlowe, Hardy resolves the question, stating that misfortunes, as well as well as life s pleasures, are simply the cause of hap or chance. In an age of steady secularization and religious questioning, Hardy reflects these ideologies in his poem. Hardy uses an experimental sonnet form and ambiguous language to show the unpredictability of life, stemming from the lack of God or other higher beings, and ultimately suggests that the bad, and good, things in life are unavoidable, and no amount of praying or belief in a more powerful god can change pure coincidence and chance. Hap defies any definitive sonnet type, adding to the general feeling of suspense and unpredictability in the poem. Furthermore, it proves Hardy’s point that good and bad hap are unavoidable. Instead of following a traditional structure, Hap is more of a mixture of Shakespearean and Italian form. It has two quatrains and a sestet; traditionally, a Shakespearean sonnet has three quatrains and a couplet, and an Italian sonnet has an octave and a sestet. This intriguing mixture adds a sense of confusion and unpredictability,Show MoreRelatedThomas Hardy Poems16083 Words   |  65 PagesHAP IF but some vengeful god would call to me From up the sky, and laugh: Thou suffering thing, Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy, That thy love s loss is my hate s profiting! Then would I bear, and clench myself, and die, Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited; Half-eased, too, that a Powerfuller than I Had willed and meted me the tears I shed. But not so. How arrives it joy lies slain, And why unblooms the best hope ever sown? --Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain, And