Page:Life of Thomas Hardy - Brennecke.pdf/251

 exhibits the poet's "transcendental" tendencies in fullest and richest fashion is The Phantom Horsewoman, which shows also the great variety of the effects that the remembrance of that memorable ride together, with which the poet's mind seems obsessed, can produce. In contrast to this is The Spell of the Rose, which, with its perfectly transparent allegory, comes closest to an actual record of events—the course of a domestic disagreement and partial reconciliation is clearly suggested.

The most pathetic reflective piece is Rain on a Grave, but an equally fine, though different, effect is achieved by the coldest poem of the set, A Circular, which shows admirably how pure thought can transfigure an ordinary occurrence into real poetry:

In strong contrast to the austerity and frigidity of that, there is The Voice, as close an approach to a purely emotional overflow as Hardy ever achieved, and for that