The Going - Thomas Hardy
A Poignant Lament for Love Lost Too Soon
The Going
by Thomas Hardy
[Excerpt]
Why did you give no hint that night
That quickly after the morrow's dawn,
And calmly, as if indifferent quite,
You would close your term here, up and be gone
Where I could not follow
With wing of swallow
To gain one glimpse of you ever anon?
...
I seem but a dead man held on end
To sink down soon... O you could not know
That such swift fleeing
No soul foreseeing—
Not even I—would undo me so!
[In full, “The Going” is one of Hardy’s “Poems of 1912–13,” reflecting his grief over the unexpected death of his first wife, Emma. The excerpt above provides a representative taste of Hardy’s tone and subject matter. The complete text is in the public domain and can be found in standard collections of Hardy’s poetry.]
Thomas Hardy’s “The Going” is one of his renowned 1912–13 poems written in the wake of his wife Emma’s death. It conveys the shock and turmoil Hardy experienced when she died without warning—at least from his perspective. The speaker laments that there was “no hint” of her imminent departure, leaving him grappling with unanswered questions and profound remorse.
Stylistically, the poem merges direct address with a subdued, almost aching tone. The speaker shifts between bewilderment at not having known of her approaching end and a sense of abandonment, emphasizing the irreversible nature of her “going” from which he cannot follow. By portraying himself as a “dead man held on end,” Hardy underscores the crippling emotional toll inflicted by sudden loss.
In many of Hardy’s works, nature and daily routines continue indifferent to personal calamities. Here, however, the poem fixates primarily on the psychic distance and finality that death imposes, overshadowing any external landscape references. The abiding question—why she gave “no hint” of her departure—remains unanswered, reflecting Hardy’s lifelong introspection and regret. In this, “The Going” is emblematic of Hardy’s capacity to dramatize grief as both intensely personal and resonant with universal human experience. Through spare but evocative lines, he lays bare the emotional labyrinth that follows an unexpected end to love and companionship.
Key points
• Hardy composed “The Going” as part of his deeply personal poetic cycle mourning Emma’s death.
• Suddenness and lack of closure intensify the speaker’s sense of abandonment.
• The poem’s direct address and repetitions convey a haunting, unsettled quality.
• “The Going” exemplifies Hardy’s broader themes: regret, mortality, and the finality that death imposes on human bonds.
