A Wife in London

• "She sits in the tawny vapour

  • not an active verb - indicates wife's helplessness - presented as alone
  • eerie scene - pathetic fallacy - sense of foreboding (feeling that something bad will happen)
  • type of fog in London produced by the emissions of factories and chimneys - pathetic fallacy - detailed visual images of fog foreshadows the wife's sorrow
  • This fog also symbolises obscured clarity —she is metaphorically and literally in the dark about her husband's fate
• "He - has fallen - in the far south land...

  • dashes create pauses as if the news haven't sunk in properly - disbelief - denial
  • 'has fallen' - euphemism - more respectful
  • British army is trying to soften the news for the wife - showing that they care
• hoped return/ home-planned jaunts of brake and burn

  • language of future plans and optimism creates a painful irony
  • images of nature highlight the husband's youth and potential which have been lost
  • 'brake and burn' - natural imagery is a stark contrast to the industrial and foggy setting of London and the violent reality of war
• context

  • The poem is probably related to the Boer War but the fact she is ‘a’ wife reflects the tragedy of how many lives were lost during many wars
• structure

  • The poem is divided into two events covering two days: ‘The Tragedy’ and ‘The Irony’
  • There is a clear rhyme scheme in each verse, creating a sense of inevitability to these tragic events
  • Hardy uses the present tense to create a sense that this is a story unfolding in front of us, making it more dramatic and emotional
• "And of new love that they would learn"

  • final line heightens the tragedy of his death because they will never get to rekindle their relationship
  • Perhaps Hardy leaves it here because it is more powerful than describing the widow’s grief.