A grammatical analysis of tense & modality in two of Thomas Hardy's poems of 1912-1913

Abstract EN

The present study grammatically approaches two of Hardy's 1912-1913 poems, "The Going" which was written only a month after Emma's death, and "The Haunter", which came into existence in 1913.

The study is based on the hypothesis that Hardy is more involved in the past in those poems that immediately followed Emma's death, whereas he is more concerned with the present in 1913 poems.

The feeling of guilt, confusion between the past and present, and how he could finally overcome his suffering will all be revealed in the grammatical analysis the researcher will embark on.

The grammatical analysis will focus on tense and modal auxiliaries used in the two poems.

It will show how these devices were used by Hardy, and how an analysis of such devices can lead to an interpretation of the two poems.