At An Inn

• "O severing sea and land / O laws of men."

  • physical and social separation barriers
• "When we as strangers sought their catering care."

  • alliteration is in pairs (reflects the speaker's own perception of their relationship)
  • the people around them believe them to be lovers
• "The spheres above made them our ministers."

  • he wonders if the supernatural powers are willing them to be married
  • this is the closest they will get to being married
  • both parties are already married
• "Love's own pair."

  • his desire for unity
  • personification
  • their love does not belong to them - not in control/responsible for their actions
• Written in the Victorian Era when there was a moral panic of prostitution and strict standards for relationships
• Written by Thomas Hardy who was a Victorian realist (meaning he examines social constraints of British people) and he based this poem on his relationship with Florence Henniker, even though they were both married and she just wanted to be friends.
• The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD - the pairs have been separated which reflects the tension between togetherness and separation of the couple
• The speaker is generally interpreted to be Hardy himself
• Conversational and light hearted tone
• The form is simple and straight forwards which reflects the comfort of the inn.
• LINKS TO GATSBY

  • the speaker desires to return to how a relationship was in the past - like Gatsby
  • there are social conventions and physical separation which are barriers to love