I have been in a long distance relationship before so I related to "On the Departure Platform." Hardy did a great job at describing what it is like to say goodbye to someone. It does not matter if you are saying goodbye for a little while or forever, it still seems like one the hardest things we have to do in our lives.
"We kissed at the barrier; and passing through
She left me, and moment by moment got
Smaller and smaller, until to my view
She was but a spot" (p. 1075).
When I read these lines I thought that a man was taking the love of his life to the airport and he kissed her before she went into the entrance to board the plane. He watched her as she disappeared into the crowd of people.
"Through hustling crowds of gentle and rough
To the carriage door.".....
"Behind dark groups from far and near,
Whose interest were apart from ours,
She would disappear."
After reading these parts of the poem I started to think about the platform in which you board a train. A train has carriages as well. As he is preparing to say goodbye there are people getting their luggage and things together, going back and forth. Some live near and other far away. The other travelers seem to be unaware of the agony that the couple is experiencing. It is amazing how sometimes we feel like we are the only ones going through something. However, it could be that there is someone in the world going through the exact same thing.
"And she who was more than my life to me
Had vanished quite...."
I loved how he ended this poem. I haven't heard someone express their feelings so eloquently. I could only hope that I matter that much to someone one day. After reading the entire poem, it reminded me of a scene from a romance novel or tear-jerking movie in which lovers must say goodbye.
3 comments:
Candice,
Very good discussion of Hardy's poem. I think it is one of your better ones, because you seem more engaged with this poem by the way you connect it to your own experiences.
I really enjoyed reading your post on Hardy's poem. It is true that sometimes we feel like we are the only ones going through something, but usually this is not the case. We may have the love of our life walking away into the distance not even realizing that the person next to us and doing the exact same thing. I really liked this quote:
"And she who was more than my life to me
Had vanished quite...."
This could also be about someone is not going away, but just fading away in your life. They are mentally going away. Great post and choice of poem to talk about!
Candice
Your post on Hardy's "On the Departure Platform" made me enjoy the work so much more. The poem itself is truly beautiful and the insight you have with it is amazing. I agree with you when you state that sometimes we feel we are the only ones going through something. Like Kelly, I believe this is not the case but sometimes we are so wrapped in our own lives and situations that we fail to notice that others are experiencing the same thing.
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