Page:Life of Thomas Hardy - Brennecke.pdf/166

 atmosphere more delightful than any of the older poet's efforts could call forth; yet the mood is a Barnes-mood, and rather free from the usual sting of the Hardy train of thought. The last stanza contains the essence of whatever pure meditation there is in the entire piece:

It is a poem that does not suffer by comparison with the best of Wordsworth's "Lucy" poems, (She Dwelt among Untrodden Ways) though the touch of pathos is lacking.

She, at his Funeral (187—) is a striking little dramatic monologue, which illuminates a single moment in a tragedy with great vividness:

At Waking (Weymouth, 1869) is likewise a dramatic monologue, cast into a rather curious stanza-form. The