Skip to content
Storgy

The Annotated Edition

A Broken Appointment by Thomas Hardy

Summary, meaning, line-by-line analysis & FAQ.

Read aloud in ~1 minOpen reading mode →

A man waits for a woman who never arrives, and instead of simply feeling sad about her absence, he feels a deeper hurt: she didn't come even out of basic human kindness.

Poet
Thomas Hardy
Core theme
Loneliness
Download study sheet (PDF)
The PoemFull text

A Broken Appointment

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?

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

A man waits for a woman who never arrives, and instead of simply feeling sad about her absence, he feels a deeper hurt: she didn't come even out of basic human kindness. The poem questions whether love is truly needed to perform a small, compassionate act for someone in pain. Hardy uses repeated refrains to emphasize not only her absence but also the reality that she doesn't love him.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. You did not come, / And marching Time drew on, and wore me numb.—

    Editor's note

    The first stanza hits hard with the cold reality: she didn't show up. Hardy gives Time a military quality, describing it as something that "marches" and wears the speaker down until he feels numb. The speaker makes it clear that his sorrow isn't just about her absence; what truly hurts is realizing she lacks "high compassion" — that selfless, generous care that would prompt someone to be there for another, regardless of romantic feelings. The phrase "hope-hour stroked its sum" serves as a clock metaphor: the moment he had been waiting for has finally come and gone, leaving him feeling empty. The refrain "You did not come" echoes at the end, like a door slamming shut.

  2. You love not me, / And love alone can lend you loyalty;

    Editor's note

    The second stanza moves from a specific moment to a broader realization that the speaker has come to terms with: she doesn't love him, and without that love, she feels no duty towards him. He claims he always knew this, which complicates the hurt — he wasn’t let down by a broken promise, but by a lack of basic human kindness. He presents his request as minimal: not love, not loyalty, just "a little hour or more." The rhetorical question at the core of this stanza represents the poem’s main argument — couldn’t she have come, just to offer comfort to someone in pain, and added that small gesture to the list of good human actions? The closing line "You love not me" mirrors the structure of the opening, bringing the poem to a close with the same quiet, resigned sense of finality.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone is more sorrowful and restrained than angry. Hardy maintains a measured voice throughout, which adds to the dignity and depth of the hurt. There’s a subtle bitterness beneath the surface, but the speaker doesn’t lash out — he reasons, mourns, and poses questions. The repeated refrains lend the poem a formal, almost ceremonial sadness, reminiscent of someone acknowledging a truth they’ve come to accept.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

Marching Time
Time is depicted as a relentless soldier marching forward. It doesn’t pause, it doesn’t show concern, and it gradually exhausts the speaker. This military imagery implies that waiting is a battle in itself — one that the speaker ultimately loses.
The hope-hour
The exact moment the speaker had been leading up to — the scheduled meeting time. When it "stroked its sum" (like a clock chiming), it signaled not a presence but a noted absence. Here, hope has a deadline, and that deadline runs out.
The store of human deeds divine in all but name
Hardy envisions an invisible ledger that records selfless acts of kindness — those moments when people help one another not out of love or obligation but simply out of goodness. He's inviting her to contribute to that ledger. The term "divine" elevates ordinary kindness to something nearly sacred.
The repeated refrains
"You did not come" and "You love not me" serve as bookends that trap the poem in a cycle of absence. They reflect the experience of waiting, with the mind repeatedly circling back to the same painful truth.

§06Historical context

Historical context

Thomas Hardy wrote this poem in the 1890s, likely reflecting on his own experiences of emotional disappointment—his first marriage to Emma Gifford had grown distant, and he had formed deep attachments to other women. It was published in his 1902 collection *Poems of the Past and the Present*. After spending decades as a novelist, Hardy turned to poetry, infusing his verse with the same psychological depth found in his fiction. In Victorian times, a woman visiting a man alone was already a provocative act, which makes the speaker's plea—just come, just once, out of kindness—feel both humble and quietly bold. The poem belongs to a tradition in Hardy's work that explores how people let each other down, not out of malice, but due to their emotional limitations.

§07FAQ

Questions readers ask

A man was stood up — a woman had agreed (or he hoped she would) to meet him, but she didn't show. However, the poem focuses less on the missed meeting and more on what her absence reveals: she lacks the compassion to be there for someone in pain, even without love as a motive. Hardy is grieving not just her absence but her character as well.

Citation

Cite this poem

MLA

Hardy, Thomas. "A Broken Appointment." Storgy, https://storgy.com/poems/a-broken-appointment-thomas-hardy/.

APA

Hardy, T. (n.d.). A broken appointment. Storgy. https://storgy.com/poems/a-broken-appointment-thomas-hardy/

Adjacent texts in the archive

Similar poems

Neutral Tones — Thomas HardyLa Belle Dame Sans Merci — John KeatsOne Art — Elizabeth Bishop

More by Thomas Hardy

Browse all Thomas Hardy poems →

Themes in this poem

Poems about LonelinessPoems about LovePoems about SorrowPoems about Time

Compared with

Compare this poem with any other →

Poetry tools

Analyze another poem →Rate your own poem →Check rhyme & meter →