Men who march away.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

Biography. Thomas Hardy (1840-⸺) was born in Dorsetshire, England. He was educated at local schools and by private tutors. At the early age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an architect of Worcester, in which line of work he made sufficient success to win a prize for design from the Architectural Association. At the same time he was writing some verse and an occasional short story, and was at a loss to know which kind of work to follow for a profession. However, after 1870 he spent most of his time in writing. He excels as a short story writer, his “The Three Strangers” appearing in a number of lists of the one hundred best short stories. Among his other works, Laughing Stock and Other Verses, Under the Greenwood Tree, and A Pair of Blue Eyes are widely known. Mr. Hardy was given the Order of Merit in 1910. The Poem “Men Who March Away,” from Selected Poems of Thomas Hardy, was written at the time the English soldiers were entering the World War.

Discussion. 1. What “faith and fire” must the soldier have who freely enlists in the service of his country in war? 2. Whom does the poet address in the second stanza? 3. Use other words instead of “purblind prank.” 4. Explain the meaning of the fourth and fifth lines of the third stanza. 5. Why does the poet say the soldiers march away to war ungrieving? 6. What reason is given for the “faith and fire” of the soldiers? 7. In the fourth stanza, with what belief does the author accredit us? 8. What effect does the poet create by repeating the first stanza in closing the poem?

Phrases

EARLY AMERICAN SPIRIT OF FREEDOM