During Wind and Rain - Thomas Hardy
A Lyrical Meditation on Joy and the Unrelenting Passage of Time
During Wind and Rain
by Thomas Hardy
They sing their dearest songs—
He, she, all of them—yea,
Treble and tenor and bass,
And one to play;
With the candles mooning each face. . . .
Ah, no; the years O!
How the sick leaves reel down in throngs!
They clear the creeping moss—
Elders and juniors—aye,
Making the pathways neat
And the garden gay;
And they build a shady seat. . . .
Ah, no; the years, the years;
See, the white storm-birds wing across!
They are blithely breakfasting all—
Men and maidens—yea,
Under the summer tree,
With a glimpse of the bay,
While pet fowl come to the knee. . . .
Ah, no; the years O!
And the rotten rose is ript from the wall.
They change to a high new house,
He, she, all of them—aye,
Clocks and carpets and chairs
On the lawn all day,
And the brightest things that are theirs. . . .
Ah, no; the years, the years;
Down their carved names the raindrop ploughs.
Thomas Hardy’s “During Wind and Rain” offers four stanzas that each depict a scene of domestic contentment, marked by music, landscaping, shared meals, and relocation to a new home. But after each cozy snapshot, Hardy injects a refrain lamenting “Ah, no; the years, the years,” or “Ah, no; the years O!”—a sudden reminder that these moments of familial joy are inevitably eroded by time.
In each stanza, the poem presents an image of vitality: candlelit singing, tending a garden, a cheerful breakfast under a summer tree, or the excitement of moving to a fine new house. Yet Hardy juxtaposes each serene image with a swift undercutting of mortality. References to “sick leaves,” “white storm-birds,” “rotten rose,” and “raindrops” carving away carved names all point toward decay and the impermanence of human endeavors.
This tension between bright domestic life and the relentless march of time underscores Hardy’s central theme: even our warmest and most harmonious moments cannot stave off the eventual decline that nature and age impose. Each stanza concludes in imagery of deterioration—falling leaves, fierce weather, disintegrating roses, and washing away of memorial engravings—intimating that every cherished moment will someday exist only in memory.
Ultimately, “During Wind and Rain” stands as a quintessential Hardy poem, fusing the beauty and liveliness of everyday scenes with a muted existential chord: that no earthly happiness persists undimmed. In capturing these fleeting instants of family life against the backdrop of inevitable change, Hardy evokes both longing and a measure of resigned acceptance.
Key points
• Each stanza contrasts vivid domestic joy with the sobering reality of time’s ravages.
• Repeated refrains (“Ah, no; the years O!”) emphasize the poem’s central concern with transience.
• Natural imagery—leaves, storm-birds, roses—echoes the ephemeral nature of human life.
• Hardy portrays the passage of time as both unstoppable and deeply intertwined with everyday existence.
