A Broken Appointment - Thomas Hardy
A Poignant Reflection on Love Unreturned
A Broken Appointment
by Thomas Hardy
You did not come,
And marching Time drew on, and wore me numb.—
Yet less for loss of your dear presence there
Than that I thus found lacking in your make
That high compassion which can overbear
Reluctance for pure lovingkindness' sake
Grieved I, when, as the hope-hour stroked its sum,
You did not come.
You love not me,
And love alone can lend you loyalty;—
I know and knew it. But, unto the store
Of human deeds divine in all but name,
Was it not worth a little hour or more
To add yet this: Once you, a woman, came
To soothe a time-torn man; even though it be
You love not me?
Thomas Hardy’s poem “A Broken Appointment” addresses the acute disappointment and quiet despair of a speaker who has been stood up by someone beloved. Though the title points to a singular event—the person did not keep the promised meeting—the poem delves beyond mere frustration. Instead, Hardy highlights a deeper anguish: the speaker’s realization that the other person’s absence confirms a lack of love and, crucially, a lack of genuine compassion.
In the first stanza, the speaker laments less about being alone at the arranged time and place than about the withheld “high compassion” that might have brought solace, even if the beloved did not truly love him. The repeated phrase “You did not come” initially describes a physical no-show, but swiftly takes on an emotional dimension—signaling an essential empathy that likewise fails to materialize. Hardy contrasts the swift passage of “marching Time” with the speaker’s numbness, emphasizing how the depth of feeling can render one inert in the face of rejection.
The second stanza amplifies this sense of unreciprocated feeling. The speaker acknowledges that “You love not me,” yet still hopes for a small gesture of mercy—a fleeting moment of “lovingkindness” that would have cost so little and provided a meaningful human connection. Hardy’s repetition of “You love not me” underlines the poem’s core heartbreak: not only is the speaker unloved, but he is also denied a simpler act of compassion that might have soothed his pain.
Ultimately, “A Broken Appointment” lays bare the human longing for empathy, even in the absence of romantic love. With characteristic restraint and poignancy, Hardy shows how this withheld kindness inflicts an especially profound wound—one that lingers beyond the sting of the canceled meeting itself. By focusing on the speaker’s emotional isolation, Hardy deftly encapsulates the broader theme of how small gestures of warmth can offer hope in even the most forlorn circumstances.
Key points
• Hardy explores the emotional gravity of being stood up, delving into themes of compassion withheld.
• The poem emphasizes that the speaker’s pain arises not just from unmet love, but also from an unmet human kindness.
• Repetition of “You did not come” and “You love not me” underscores the sting of unrequited affection.
• Hardy’s plaintive tone reveals how even a brief act of empathy might soften the blow of rejection.