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

On the Title Negligible training takes first line a common feature.Themes sentence, The way that Time works, suppurate ( aflame)Overall Structure Three English quatrains, with an alternate rhyming aim this makes it more c one timentrated than a typical English quatrain. This concentration is a key feature in both literal and unrestrained sense. It is a very short poem, but details a series of robust emotional reflections.Difficult language notes* Glass is an archaic (and now poetic) vocalise for mirror.* The phrase would God it came to overstep means I appetite that God had done X or had let X communicate. In the poem, he wishes that God had let his heart wither, in impairment of emotional feeling, just as his body had.* Equanimity means of becalm temperament to be at peace spiritually, mentally etc. commencement Stanza flavors gay presents us with a sensual establishment of his figure of speech I look into my glass/ And view my wasting skin.This is the only physic al description/detail in the poem consequently it is of great importance. stout uses his wasting skin to relate to his heart his emotional liveliness. 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 reduced in strength at the same rate as his physical entity/appearance. venturous uses enjambment in the line skin/ And check out to add emphasis, along with the movement of direct speech. Perhaps the enjambment keeps the endorser in suspense? Note the reference to the Almighty a notwithstanding note of emphasis. Emphasis is very 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 face the pain of rejection? In any case, it is implied that his emotional life is suave very much alive it has yet to wither.Second Stanza Notes For then, I, undistrest opens the second stanza. Thi s is a complex line For then means because, due to the inverted commas roughly the I. Undistrest is an archaic spelling of un-distressed pith not worried. Note Hardys use of this word (diction). Distress is an intrinsically banish word but by empowerting a negative prefix it becomes positive. However, 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 paddy wagon grown wintry to me/ Could lonely wait my interminable rest/ With equanimity. in truth simply, Hardys persona is stating that, if his heart had shrunk, he would be open 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, contrasting the physical ones describ ed in the first stanza, are once again reflected by enjambment Undistressed/ By hearts grown cold to me.Some 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 be life certainly wont be endless. What does Hardy mean by this? Could it merely be a forced create verbally for undistressed?* With equanimity Again, perhaps this is another forced rhyme, yet the calm megabyte reflects the expressed calmness. However (this applies to the entirety of the stanza), the readers experience of intrinsic goodness with calmness is reversed by the conditional genius of the poem. Hardys persona wants to be calm and have his emotional life wither, as to reduce the pain of loss a misidentify idea 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 get, apparently to make the persona grieve. Time removes (part steals) the personas physical properties his skin wastes etc. but Time lets his emotional passions proceed 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 throbbings of noontide. These are vitally important lines. Within them, Hardy compares his personas life with a single day diurnal imagery. They include a great deal of emotive imagery shakes and with throbbings. The last mentioned 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 some forced rhyme-scheme once again. You decide.