Life can sometimes be left up to chance. In his poem Hap, which means chance, Thomas Hardy writes about the misfortune chance can bring. Life can bring negative characters into our midst. The poor fellow speaking in the poem has come upon some unsavory characters in his travels.
The speaker in the poem says he could take strife better if it would God causing it. “Know that thy sorrow is my ecstacy, / That, thy love’s loss is my hate’s profiting! / Then would I bear it, clench myself, and die, “(line 3 – 5). He feels that if it would God’s vengeance causing him sorrow he would take it knowing that it was from a more powerful being than himself. He knows it is chance that has brought him this pain. “These purblind Doomsters had as readily strown / Blissses about my pilgrimage as pain.” (line 13 & 14). This poor traveler has come across some gamblers that treated him badly. “And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan” (line 12). He either gave into temptation and cannot pay his gambling debts. It is also possible he has come across unscrupulous characters that are taking advantage of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whichever the case this man has not been dealt a fair hand by Chance.
Sometimes bad things happen to good people. In this poem that is what I think happened to the speaker. We see victims of crimes on the news daily. Crime is an unfortunate bedfellow for some, especially during an economic recession. People can be taken advantage of, just like this man in the poem.
Joan,
ReplyDeleteInteresting take on this poem, with some well-chosen passages to discuss. I think the metaphorical nature of this short but challenging poem has thrown you a bit, though. The speaker has not run into some gamblers, but views all the event of life as a crapshoot, and he blames the random sorrows he has encountered on amoral and uncaring fate, rather than a malevolent God.
Hardy's usage of words such as dicing gives way that he has come across some gamblers. When you are gambling you are taking a "chance". His belief is that if God was the reasons for his misfortunes then he could accept his fate. But this was not the case. I sometimes think of the chances I take and believe if I had chosen a different route maybe things would be not different for me.
ReplyDeleteJoan,
ReplyDeleteI saw this poem as a response to the changes that were taking place due to industrialization. The changes that were taking place were not only ordained by God. I believe that Hardy is transitioning readers into a thought process that does not involve or rely on religion. The idea of dicing, Doomsters reveal that justice lies within a persons life and destiny is determined by just that...chance.