DOI: 10.5176/2251-3566_L312115
Authors: Chih-chun Tang
Abstract: The Poems of 1912-13 are elegies that Thomas Hardy composed after the sudden, abrupt death of his estranged wife, Emma. The twenty-one poems contained in the series depict Emma’s death and its aftermath, especially its psychological impact on Hardy that is suggested by both his mental images of and real visit to the landscape in Cornwall, England. The way space is represented in these poems offers an apparent about-face of the elegiac tradition. The landscapes in the poems do not simply represent panoramas; they also embody the author’s subconscious and personal attachment. Most significantly, they present a distinct image of the poet, agonizing with an afflicted conscience. Though Emma had left, Hardy kept recollecting memories of Emma, so much so that he continued roaming and wondering in the imaginary land of his mind. Since the Hardy couple inhabited both Dorset and Cornwall, these two places were symbolic and allegorical. In order to approach the significance of geographical, temporal and perspectival contrasts in the Poems of 1912-13, I intend to apply Henri Lefebvre’s and Kevin Lynch’s theories to explore not only Hardy’s “representation of space,” but also his “representational space” and “spatial practice.”
Keywords: Landscape, Seascape, Space; Spatial Imagination; Poems of 1912-13; Thomas Hardy; Henri Lefebvre; Kevin Lynch
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