A wife in london

Question 1

title

Answer 1

• The Indefinite article ‘A’ suggests that there are many women in a similar situation of loss which is seen later in the poem.
• By referring to the eponymous woman as ‘wife’ - indicates that the most important aspect of her identity is her marital status, and that the poem will be about her husband.
• subtitle “The Tragedy” –creates an ominous atmosphere and a sense of inevitability - foreshadowing the wife’s loss of her husband.

Question 2

stanza 1

Answer 2

• tawny vapour’ – creates an eerie atmosphere. This yellow smog was commonplace in London at the time.
• ‘webby fold on fold’ - metaphor of the web suggesting entrapment.
• ‘waning taper’ has connotations of a candle burning down – forshadows wife’s loss of her husband.
• oxymoron ‘glimmers’ is usualy associated with light and heat, yet here it is ‘cold’ - suggests that the wife will never feel warm again since her husband is dead.

Question 3

stanza 2 - 1

Answer 3

A messenger’s knock cracks smartly,
Flashed news in her hand
Of meaning it dazes to understand
Though shaped so shortly:
* “cracks smartly” & adjective “Flashed” - harsh, clinical tone - harsh phonemes suggests shock of receiving news of the loss - could also refer to the telegram, which was used to send official and serious news.
* verb “dazes” emphasises the woman’s initial confusion and denial of the loss.
* Phrase ‘shaped so shortly’ protests against the impersonal delivery of the news - contrasts the brief telegram (which was done during the war to cut costs) with the massive magnitude of her loss.

Question 4

stanza 2 - 2

Answer 4

• sentence “He - has fallen - in the far South Land…” - echoes the woman’s hesitance to read the telegram (which was used to send news to a family member of their loved ones death)
• the dashes mimic the telegram - caesura - helps slow down the poems pace - increases the emotional impact of the statement.
• euphemistic language ‘has fallen’ - suggests that the wife cannot/will not accept the news.

Question 5

stanza 3

Answer 5

• In the 3rd stanza the change in subtitle (the irony) indicates a change in mood in the 2nd half of the poem. This is much more apparent in the final stanza than in the 3rd stanza.
• phrase ‘ the fog hangs thicker’ - pathetic fallacy - fog is often associated with feelings of grief, sadness and depression - emphasizes the wife’s depression and acceptance of his death.
• phrase ‘firelight flicker’ - represents the fragility of life or the inevitability of death.
• ‘Whom the worm now knows’ - very blunt way of expressing someone’s death - contrasts with ‘has fallen’ in the first half of the poem, which uses euphemistic language to soften the blow of her loss. This suggests that no matter how much comfort is offered to the wife her husband cannot return.

Question 6

stanza 4

Answer 6

• word ‘fresh’ is ironic, because it has connotations of life - in contrast to the semantic of death presented throughout the poem.
• ‘hoped return’ - positive tone - suggests that the sodier was optimistic about war.
• ‘home-planned jaunts’ - connotations of youth making his loss of life seem even more tragic. This optimistic tone ironically has a more poignant effect, which is similar to how Hardy would read letters from his dead wife to cling to her memory.

Question 7

stanzas

Answer 7

title - ‘A’ , wife tragedy subtitle
1 - tawny vapour , webby fold on fold, waning taper, glimmers cold
2-1 - cracks smartly, Flashed, dazes shaped so shortly
2-2 - He - has fallen - in the far South Land…
3 - fog hangs thicker, firelight flicker, whom the worm now knows
4 -fresh, hoped return, home-planned jaunts