1900, 1901
In the dark. 4. Leaning out (of its coffin); i.e., the 19th century
Gate leading to a small wood or thicket. was dead. This poem was dated December 31,
Twining stems of shrubs. 1900.
.
187 2 / THOMAS HARDY
The Ruined Maid 'O 'Melia,1 my dear, this does everything crown!
Who could have supposed I should meet you in Town?
And whence such fair garments, such prosperi-ty?'?
'O didn't you know I'd been ruined?' said she. 5 ?'You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks,
Tired of digging potatoes, and spudding up docks;2
And now you've gay bracelets and bright feathers three!'?
'Yes: that's how we dress when we're ruined,' said she. ?'At home in the barton0 you said 'thee' and 'thou', farmyard
10 And 'thik oon', and 'theas oon', and 't'other'; but now
Your talking quite fits 'ee for high compa-ny!'?
'Some polish is gained with one's ruin,' said she. ?'Your hands were like paws then, your face blue and bleak
But now I'm bewitched by your delicate cheek,
is And your little gloves fit as on any la-dy!'?
'We never do work when we're ruined,' said she. ?'You used to call home-life a hag-ridden dream,
And you'd sigh, and you'd sock;? but at present you seem sighTo know not of megrims0 or melancho-ly!'? low spirits
20 'True. One's pretty lively when ruined,' said she. ?'I wish I had feathers, a fine sweeping gown,
And a delicate face, and could strut about Town!'?
'My dear?a raw country girl, such as you be,
Cannot quite expect that. You ain't ruined,' said she.
1866 1901
A Trampwoman's Tragedy
(18 2-)
From Wynyard's Gap1 the livelong day,
The livelong day,
We beat afoot the northward way
We had travelled times before.
5 The sun-blaze burning on our backs,
Our shoulders sticking to our packs,
1. Diminutive form of Amelia. Hardy called 'Wessex' and of which his native 2. Digging up a species of thick- rooted weed. Dorset, the county south and southwest of Somer1. The places named are in Somerset, in south-set, reaching to the English Channel, was the west England on the northern edge of the area that major part.
.
A TRAMPWOMAN'S TRAGEDY / 187 3
By fosseway,2 fields, and turnpike tracks We skirted sad Sedge-Moor.3
2
Full twenty miles we jaunted on, 10
We jaunted on,? My fancy-man, and jeering John,
And Mother Lee, and I. And, as the sun drew down to west, We climbed the toilsome Poldon crest,
15 And saw, of landskip0 sights the best, landscape The inn that beamed thereby.
3
For months we had padded side by side, Ay, side by side Through the Great Forest, Blackmoor wide,
20 And where the Parret ran, We'd faced the gusts on Mendip ridge, Had crossed the Yeo unhelped by bridge, Been stung by every Marshwood midge,
I and my fancy-man.
4
