Extended commentary of ‘I look into My Glass’ by Thomas Hardy Essay

On the Title Negligible information takes eldest line a common feature.Themes Time, The way that Time works, Age (worked up) general Structure Three English quatrains, with an alternate rhyming scheme this makes it more grueling than a typical English quatrain. This concentration is a anchor feature in both literal and unrestrained sense. It is a actually short poem, but details a series of deep emotional reflections.Difficult language beaks* Glass is an archaic (and now poetic) battle cry for mirror.* The phrase would matinee idol it came to pass recollects I wish that God had done X or had let X happen. In the poem, he wishes that God had let his bone marrow wither, in terms of emotional feeling, just as his body had.* Equanimity means of calm constitution to be at peace spiritually, mentally etc.First Stanza Notes stout presents us with a animal(prenominal) establishment of his image I give ear into my glass/ And view my withering skin.This is the only somatog enic comment/detail in the poem consequently it is of great importance. brassy uses his wasting skin to relate to his heart his emotional look. Would God it came to pass/ My heart had shrunk as thin. In short, the persona wishes that his emotions, his passions, his loves had shrunken or decreased in strength at the same rate as his physical entity/appearance. venturesome uses enjambment in the line skin/ And say to sum emphasis, along with the battlefront of direct speech. Perhaps the enjambment keeps the reader in suspense? Note the reference to the Almighty a further note of emphasis. Emphasis is very(prenominal) important in such a concentrated poem.The reader is forced to very rapidly deduce the personas emotions. He wishes that his emotions would fade perhaps he cant human face the pain of rejection? In any case, it is implied that his emotional carriage is still very much alive it has yet to wither.Second Stanza Notes For therefore, I, undistrest opens the sec ond stanza. This is a analyzable line For then means because, overdue to the inverted commas around the I. Undistrest is an archaic spelling of un-distressed meaning not worried. Note robusts use of this word (diction). Distress is an ingrainedally negative word but by putting a negative prefix it becomes positive. Howevenr, the presence of two negative words in the line reflects oddly on its meaning and the impression given.Hardy does this for a reason. For then, I, undistressed/ By hearts bad c old(a) to me/ Could lonely bear my long rest/ With calm air. Very simply, Hardys persona is stating that, if his heart had shrunk, he would be able to wait out his life with equanimity with a calm temperament. However, the presence of the For then makes this stanza conditional, again implying that the persona is without equanimity hes not brilliantly happy. He is losing emotional contact with those whom he still cares for. The emotional entities, tell apart the physical ones de scribed in the first stanza, are once again reflected by enjambment Undistressed/ By hearts grown cold to me. almost key techniques/ words in this stanza* Could lonely wait my endless rest. lonely, due to the hearts grown cold to him, obviously, but critics query the meaning of endless rest. Does is refer to death? The personas remaining life certainly wont be endless. What does Hardy mean by this? Could it merely be a forced rhyme for undistressed?* With equanimity Again, perhaps this is another forced rhyme, yet the calm metre reflects the express calmness. However (this applies to the entirety of the stanza), the readers association of intrinsic goodness with calmness is reversed by the conditional nature of the poem. Hardys persona wants to be calm and take on his emotional life wither, as to reduce the pain of loss a confusing fancy in itself but this has not happened.Third Stanza Hardy arrives at the crux of the poem, with a comment on the cruel nature of Time. Time is personified as an enemy of the human condition it Part steals, lets part abide, obviously to make the persona grieve. Time removes (part steals) the personas physical properties his skin wastes etc. but Time lets his emotional passions remain intact making relationships more painful as they deteriorate in old age.Hardy end his poem with the lines And Time shakes this fragile frame at eve/ With pounds of noontide. These are vitally important lines. Within them, Hardy compares his personas life with a single day diurnal imagery. They hold a great deal of emotive imagery shakes and with throbbings. The latter reflects the throbbing of a heart. Hardy, to explain the metaphor, states that his persona is reminded at the eve (end) of his life by the mental throbbing of his emotional height his pinnacle of passion, to put it poetically. Critics have called it a very emotionally overt ending, with a somewhat forced rhyme-scheme once again. You decide.