| Thomas Hardy(1840-1928)is not only one of the most outstanding novelists in the history of English literature,but also a great poet in Victorian age.His eight collections of poetry contain up to a thousand poems,the majority of which are poems of love,time and nature.Hardy's war poems are substantially fewer,only over 40.In spite of the abundant researches on Hardy's poetry,especially on the elegy to his first wife Emma,his war poems receive much less critical attention.Hardy's war poems embody the change of his attitudes and thoughts on wars,thus,the exploration of his anti-war thoughts in these poems may help explain the formation of Hardy's pessimism.On the basis of a comprehensive review of Hardy's war poetry,this thesis selects three war poems from Wessex Poems and fifteen poems from “War Poems” and “Poems of War and Patriotism” and analyzes them in detail to discuss the poet's reflection on war.Through an in-depth analysis of Hardy's war poems,with the help of his biography,historical data,and the influence of philosophical thoughts on him,this thesis explores Hardy's attitudes towards wars and their changes which further form and deepen his anti-war thoughts,resulting partly in his pessimism.In the early stage of Hardy's life,he was more of a bystander of war and an appreciator of the war romance.When he became a witness to and an indirect participant in war,his intellectual and emotional involvement greatly influenced his attitudes towards war and towards the future of mankind.This thesis holds the view that Hardy's poetry of war reveals that as he turned from a bystander into a participant,war changed from an abstract historical story and the intriguing experience of the predecessors to an often devastating tragedy that was being staged and deepened in the real world.Hardy's humanistic care for mankind's destiny and the inability to prevent future wars have deepened his pessimistic thoughts.Hardy's early attention to wars was mainly based on intellectual interest until he witnessed the painful experience that was brought to individuals and families.In the later years of Hardy's life,he witnessed the mutual slaughter among European countries in World War I,which intensified his personal feelings in war.At first,Hardy was curious about war.On the one hand,he worshipped the heroes on the battlefield by marveling at the glorifying war romance.On the other hand,he also saw the pain brought by the war to ordinary people.When Britain launched a war of aggression upon South Africa,Hardy exhibited his anti-war attitude and publicized his ideal of internationalism.The war poems of this period revealed the pain of ordinary people caused by the rulers and expressed Hardy's humanistic concern for the individuals.He believed that war not only destroys humanity,but also deprives people of their faith.During WWI,the development of science and technology meant that the single,small-scale face-to-face combat had evolved into a mass slaughter.In face of the unprecedented disaster brought by WWI,Hardy realized that human civilization has not really improved.The repeated wars launched by greedy and stupid rulers who abandoned faith and reason lead or even hypnotize people into blind patriotism and heroism.The myth of various wars blindfolded the common people.Hardy therefore paid more attention to the destiny of the nation and tried to alert the people through his appeal and creation to reveal the cruelty of war and stupidity of human beings.Nevertheless,his heart was more convinced of the weakness of human nature,and he even began to doubt if his own writing could really manage to teach people to learn from the war tragedies.After WWI,while other people were celebrating the end of the war,Hardy was full of worries.His war poems then concerned more about the cruelty of war,the doubt about whether the war really has come to an end,and if humans can maintain peace for long.An in-depth analysis of his war poems reveals that Hardy's emotional engagement in the war intensified as his involvement got deeper.Hardy knew that the individual was insignificant in history,and that his attempt to warn and alarm might not be of much help,and he was convinced that human beings were just “time's laughing stocks”,who were bound to repeat the same mistakes.Nevertheless,he could not stand aloof,nor could he give up his humanistic concern,which lead to his ever more pessimistic thinking.The war poems written after WWI reflected his deep worries about the future destiny of mankind.Hardy's anxieties and warnings were certainly not superfluous,as will be proved relevant in the outbreak of WWII.Hardy's war poems expose the harm brought by wars to the individuals and the nations and publicize his ideals of “internationalism”,the common aspiration of all peace-loving people.Such aspiration is helpful to promote the future anti-war movements in western countries.The detailed analysis of Hardy's war poems demonstrates that Hardy's thoughts on war go from curiosity to empathy,and end up in despair,a process in which his humanistic concern grows all the time yet his faith in human beings is ever declining,forming a pessimistic picture of his poetry and of him as a poet. |
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