A wife in London by Thomas Hardy

A wife in London by Thomas Hardy

1. He was strongly against war and he thought it was futile

2. It links to the Boer wars, thought they're never mentioned, making it universal to any soldiers and their widows

3. He grew up during the Industrial Period, but in Dorset, which strongly resisted industrialisation

4. There are two sections, the first is the wife receiving a letter saying he is dead, the second is a letter from him saying he hopes to return, that he wrote days before he died- it is titled the irony

5. The regular rhyme scheme of abbabcddcdeffefghhgh shows the repetitive nature of war and that there is no escaping death while you are there

6. 'shaped so shortly' the sibilance here is like her telling the message to shush, she doesn't want to hear the news

7. The uses of dashes with 'he-has fallen-in the far South Land' mimcks her breathing as she reads the letter as it is stuttered and heavy

   • The third part is quite long which suggests she is trying to finish reading the letter as quickly as possible

8. 'fog hangs' this links to her mind still thinking of him and that he is still somehow present and that she can;t see a way forward because his presence and the thought of him is engulfing her

9. 'knock cracks' the onomatopoeia contrasts the imagery of a silent scene in the previous stanza, this creates an uncomfortable mood foreshadowing that something unnatural is about the happen