Write the summary and explanation of the Poem entitled "The Voice

Write the summary and explanation of the Poem entitled “The Voice”.

Ans.

Summary of the Poem

Hardy was by nature a pessimistic and this trend is visible not only in his novels but in his poems also. In the poem The Voice, he has expressed his sad emotions in the memory of his dead wife when he is reminded of those moments when they were in love with each other. Unfortunately she died untimely and the poet feels an emptiness in his life. He remembers those moments and that sweet company which will never rectum to him again. So the atmosphere of the whole poem is that of helplessness and disappointment. The poet sometimes feels as if she is still calling him as she used to do in her life time hut then he is overpowered by melancholy to realize his folly because she is now no more in the world. She formed his life complete and happy but all this has now ended. There was a time when they used to meet each other and she waited anxiously for him. Her voice rings in his ears and the memory of the past is very sharp. Now it is not audible and even the breeze of the fields does not charm him anymore. Things have now undergone complete change and there is nothing more than emptiness. The poet stands alone and the call of woman is simply his imagination. H is moving alone through northern wind hopefully but he knows that his desire will never he completed.

EXPLANATIONS

1. Woman much missed, how you call to me, call to me,

Saying that now you are not as you were

When you had changed from the one who was all to me,

But as at first, when our day was fair.

Reference to the Context – These lines are the opening stanza of the poem The Voice which Hardy composed in the memory of his dead wife. She died long ago but the poet was not yet forgotten her and she is still alive in his memory. He is sad to remember those happy days which they had passed together and they will never return again in their life.

Explanation: The poem is in the spirit of a tribute by Hardy to his beloved wife. She has died and so he now feels complete loneliness in his life. The memory of his beloved wife makes him restless and creates deep melancholy in his heart. He is sorry to think that her death has created an emptiness in his life and he feels as if there is something ‘very important missing. He imagines that she is still calling him and that he is hearing his voice but in fact, all this is mere illusion. She has now completely changed from what she actually was in her life time. in those days, he considered that she was the only inspiration to him but after her death, everything has changed. Those happy days which they had passed together have gone and, only their memory has been left with him.

2. Or is it only the breeze, in its listenessness

Travelling across the wet mead to me here,

You being ever dissolved to wan wistlessness

Heard no more again far or near?

Reference to the Context- As above. The poet remembers the days of their courtship when she used to stand and wait for him eagerly near the town but it is disappointing that nothing of those days will come back again. She used to recognize her by her blue gown but this is simply a story since she has gone.

Explanation: The poet is standing alone and feels as if the same old voice of his wife calling him is resounding in his ears. But then he comes to the reality that it is not the voice of his wife rather the sound of wind is echoing. Even this sound which was so sweet earlier has lost its charm and seems to him quite careless, passing through the green grass land, In the absence of the company of his wife, the poet is so deeply disappointed that those nature objects which were the most interesting to him in the past, have become uninteresting. The wife has lost her physical existence and has changed into nothingness, something that has no existence and she has dissolved in the air. As a result, there is no hope of hearing her any more. It is possible neither now nor at any moment in any future. The lines express the sense of utter loneliness and melancholy which was deeply ingrained in the mind of the poet.

3. Thus, I, faltering forward,

Leaves around me falling.

Wind oozing thin through the thorn from norward.

And the woman calling.

Reference to the Context- As above. The extreme pessimism of the poet is quite obvious. He wishes to hear the voice of his wife but at the same time is aware of the fact that it is quite impossible since she has died and so he feels quite alone in the world.

Explanation: The melancholy of the poet continues even at the end but he tries his best to console himself and face the realities of life bravely. He is wishing to hear the voice of his wife and so is moving unsteadily like a man who fetters when he does not get his desires. The wind that pleased him previously seems to push him forward as if it is bent on let him fan. The northern wind was very enjoyable but now it seems to be coming out of the thorns and has no charm at all. He may try to listen to the voice but it is continuously fading even in his memory and so in order to lessen his sorrow, he makes efforts to forget her, though it is of no avail.