Flashcards for A Wife in London

The Husband (Deceased Soldier)

The husband is an ethereal yet crucial figure in Thomas Hardy's poem "A Wife in London" (1901).

character

The Messenger

The Messenger is a minor yet crucial character in Thomas Hardy's poem "A Wife in London" (1901), acting as the emotional and structural link between the two stanzas.

character

The Wife

The Wife is the central character in Thomas Hardy's two-part poem "A Wife in London" (1899), and her identity is shaped entirely by what she receives rather than what she does — turning her passivity into a form of dramatic tragedy.

character

“In the old dark years”

"In the old dark years" comes from Thomas Hardy's poem A Wife in London (1899), which he wrote during the Second Boer War.

Narrative voice / the husband (via letter) · Part II: The Irony

“A messenger's knock cracks smartly”

This opening image is drawn from Thomas Hardy's poem "A Wife in London" (1899), set against the backdrop of the Second Boer War.

Narrator · Part I ("In the Numb Time")

“Alive and well”

"Alive and well" appears in Thomas Hardy's poem A Wife in London (1899), which was written during the Second Boer War.

The husband (via letter) · Part II — The Irony

“The fog hangs thicker”

Thomas Hardy's poem "A Wife in London" (1899) begins with the line "The fog hangs thicker," instantly creating a stifling atmosphere of gloom and obscurity.

Narrative voice (Thomas Hardy) · I. The Tragedy

“He—has fallen—in the far South Land”

This heart-wrenching line is from Thomas Hardy's poem "A Wife in London" (December 1899), penned during the Second Boer War.

Telegram / Narrative Voice · Part I – The Tragedy

“Fresh-penned lines of his”

The phrase "Fresh-penned lines of his" comes from Thomas Hardy's poem "A Wife in London" (1899), which was written during the Second Boer War.

Narrator (third-person poetic voice) · Part II – The Irony

“Tells of how he is getting on”

This line is from Thomas Hardy's poem "A Wife in London" (1899), which was written during the Second Boer War.

The wife (narrator describing the letter) · Stanza II

Fog and Darkness

In Thomas Hardy's poem "A Wife in London," fog and darkness symbolize ignorance, grief, and the harsh indifference of fate.

London Streets

In Thomas Hardy's poem "A Wife in London," the foggy streets of London represent the harsh indifference of modern life and the emotional distance that separates people during their most vulnerable times.

The Knocking Messenger

In Thomas Hardy's poem "A Wife in London," the knocking messenger represents the harsh indifference of fate and the painful divide between hope and reality.

The Letter

In Thomas Hardy's poem "A Wife in London," the letter represents the harsh twist of fate and the painful divide between hope and reality.

Irony

The poem's structure is built on a powerful situational irony.

Juxtaposition

Hardy divides the poem into two titled sections that intentionally oppose each other.

Pathetic Fallacy

The London setting in Part I is filled with oppressive weather that reflects the wife's emotional state.

Imagery

Hardy's visual and tactile imagery is both precise and intentional throughout.

Symbolism

The telegram and the letter serve as potent symbols that go beyond being just pieces of paper.

Volta

The poem shifts between its two titled sections — 'The Tragedy' and 'The Irony' — acting as an extended structural volta.

Elegy

Though it reads like a short lyric poem instead of a formal elegy, 'A Wife in London' does the work of mourning throughout.

Dramatic Monologue

While the poem is told from a third-person perspective, Part II features an embedded dramatic monologue where the husband's letter is paraphrased and partially voiced.

Understatement

Hardy takes a notably subtle approach when depicting the wife's emotional reaction.

Quatrain

Hardy structures the poem in quatrains—four-line stanzas—that create a steady, controlled rhythm.

Motif

The theme of communication — and its tragic disconnect from reality — permeates the entire poem.

Conceit

The central idea of the poem is that a letter can act like a resurrection — or more precisely, a painful imitation of one.

adjuring

Urgently appealing to or pressing against something, as if begging it to move or yield. Here the fog is described as though it is desperately clinging to the city streets.

verb · Chapter 1

tawny

A warm brownish-yellow colour, like old leather or muddy water. Here it describes the dirty, yellowish fog that hangs over the London streets.

adjective · Chapter 1

vapour

A thick, visible mist or fog hanging in the air. In this poem it refers to the dense, murky fog that wraps around the London streets on the evening the wife receives the telegram.

noun · Chapter 1

uprolled

Rolled or drifted upward, the way fog or smoke rises slowly from below. Here it describes the fog that the city's narrow lanes have sent curling up into the air.

verb · Chapter 1

cracks smartly

Sounds out sharply and crisply, like a sudden loud snap. It describes the messenger's knock as abrupt and startling against the quiet of the foggy evening.

phrase · Chapter 1

flashed

Transmitted at great speed, the way urgent news is sent by telegraph. It suggests the telegram arrived almost instantaneously, in stark contrast to the slow letter that follows.

adjective · Chapter 1

fallen

Died in battle, a formal and solemn way of saying a soldier was killed in war. The dashes around the word in the poem slow the reader down, mimicking the wife's shock.

verb · Chapter 1

the front

The active combat zone where soldiers are fighting, far from home. The letter comes "fresh from the front," meaning it was written while the husband was still alive and at war.

phrase · Chapter 2

morrow

The next day or the day that follows. Here the husband writes about things he planned to do or record the very next day, plans he would never live to carry out.

noun · Chapter 2