Thomas Hardy's poem "Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?" is a poignant meditation on death and the human desire for connection and recognition even after death. The speaker in the poem is a dead person addressing a living person who is digging on their grave. The speaker wonders why the living person is digging on their grave and speculates that it may be out of love or a desire for closure.
The poem opens with the speaker asking the living person, "Ah, are you digging on my grave?" The use of the word "ah" suggests a sense of surprise or surprise mixed with sorrow. The speaker is surprised to see someone digging on their grave, as they are already dead and buried. The use of the word "grave" also carries connotations of finality and death.
The speaker then speculates about the reasons for the living person's actions, asking "My loved one, do you think, / That you will bury love?" The use of the term "loved one" suggests a close relationship between the speaker and the living person. The speaker wonders if the living person is trying to bury their love for the speaker along with their physical body. This could suggest that the living person is trying to move on and let go of the speaker, or it could suggest a desire to keep the memory of the speaker alive through the act of digging on their grave.
The poem then shifts to the theme of recognition and the desire to be remembered after death. The speaker asks, "For love is not dying / And love is not dead." This suggests that love is eternal and transcends death. The speaker wants to be remembered and loved even after they are gone.
The final stanza of the poem brings the theme of death and the desire for recognition full circle. The speaker asks, "Is it a dream? For if it is, / Do not wake me up." This suggests that the speaker is in some sort of dreamlike state, either in the afterlife or in the memories of the living person. The speaker does not want to be disturbed from this state, as it is a way for them to continue to be remembered and loved.
Overall, Thomas Hardy's "Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?" is a powerful reflection on death, love, and the human desire for recognition and connection even after death. The speaker's questioning of the living person's actions and their desire to be remembered suggest the deep emotional impact of death and the enduring power of love.
Ah, Are You Digging On My Grave? by Thomas Hardy
After being told each time by the digger that her guesses are wrong, the buried woman gives up and asks who it is that is digging on her grave. Hardy reflects on the idea that death is the end of everything, and that there is nothing after death. Rue is also the name of a shrub having bitter, strongly scented leaves. Instead of paying respects to the dead, the relatives think materialistically and practically. While some might call selfishness or self-involvement a trait of animals, the trait is not usually applied to what is generally believed to be the most loyal and human of pets, the dog. The speaker asks the grave-digger if he is digging their grave, and if so, how deep it will be. Any hope the woman might have had to live on in the memory of the living is dashed.
Ah, Are you Digging my Grave: Summary and Analysis: 2022
Her mannered speech shows how cliched her hopes are. His first major novel, Far From The Maddening Crowd, was published the year of their wedding, and the proceeds helped finance a honeymoon in France. There is an abstract reference in the third stanza. I am sorry, but I quite forgot It was your resting place. The poem has an irregular meter. For Hardy, however, this latter behavior by the reader would be missing the point.
Quote by Thomas Hardy: “Ah, are you digging on my grave, My loved one? ...”
A man lauded by senior poets and an inspiration to the younger ones, Thomas Hardy, died in the year 1928. Lines 5-6 Here, the digger quotes the words of the loved one, and the man states that his recent marriage will have no effect upon the deceased woman. But when the dog replies, the reader realizes that Hardy is up to something else. The Six Ironies Of Death In the first line, the speaker expresses surprise that her death would be attended to by everyone who mourns her. This regular pattern helps to create the lyrical sound of the poem—a musical rhythm that makes the poem sound much like a song when read aloud.
Ah, Are You Digging On My Grave? by Thomas Hardy
He attended a local school until he was sixteen, when his mother paid a substantial amount of money for him to be apprenticed to an architect in Dorchester. Sometimes the word is used interchangeably with lampoon which applies to the ridicule of persons, situations, or institutions. He was a Victorian realist, and he acutely criticized the then-existing values and social pressures of people. Say -- since I have not guessed! The syllables in the lines tend to be eight in number. What good will planting flowers produce? The speaker believes that when she dies, everyone will be extremely sad, but her dog is overjoyed.
Stanzas 4 and 5 of the poem "Ah, Are You digging on my grave" By Thomas Hardy Stanzas 4 and 5 add a new dimension to the poem. What is the poet's...
Some online learning platforms provide certifications, while others are designed to simply grow your skills in your personal and professional life. These lines also suggest some underlying elements that can help us to better understand the situation. Which of the people she knew in life could be visiting her grave site? He made use of established poetic devices such as regular forms, meter, and rhyme, but critics have also been interested in the rough, common language and unpolished verse that he frequently employed in his poems. The lyrics imply that the singer is still in pain from the break-up, even though they are now deceased. This is a poem of surprising outcomes, both for the woman and the dog. Her family refuses to tend her grave. The irony is that the speaker believes that everyone will be terribly saddened when they discover her dog has died, but only to discover that her dog is actually eating her own remains.
