Table of Contents
ToggleAbout the Poem Afterwards
Central Idea
Afterwards (written in 1917, published in Moments of Vision, 1917) is an elegiac, reflective lyric where Hardy imagines how he will be remembered after his death.
The recurring question: Will people remember me as a man who noticed the small, delicate beauties of nature and cared for humble creatures?
Themes
Mortality – Life’s end is portrayed gently (as a “postern,” “stilled at last,” “bell of quittance”).
Nature – Renewal of spring, dusk birds, hedgehogs, moths, and winter stars represent eternal cycles.
Legacy & Memory – Hardy doesn’t ask for fame, only to be remembered as one who “noticed such things.”
Human Limitations – Despite compassion (for animals, for beauty), he admits he “could do little.”
Mystery & Eternity – Winter stars and the bell symbolize the unknown beyond life.
Tone & Style
Tone: Tender, humble, reflective, wistful.
Language: Simple, conversational, but full of natural imagery and symbolism.
Form: Five stanzas of four lines each, iambic pentameter (blank verse with occasional rhyme).
Refrain-like pattern: Each stanza ends with a quotation of how others may remember him.
Literary Significance
One of Hardy’s greatest late poems, written in old age.
Shows Hardy’s philosophy: resignation to death, faith in nature’s cycles, humility in legacy.
Reflects Victorian elegiac tradition (like Tennyson’s In Memoriam) but with Hardy’s realism and rural imagery.
Anticipates Modernist simplicity — plain words carrying deep meaning.
About the Poet: Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
Life & Career
Born in Dorset, England (Wessex in his works).
Profession: Architect → turned to literature.
Two careers:
Novelist (1860s–1890s) → famous for Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure, Far from the Madding Crowd.
Poet (mainly after 1895) → published over 900 poems across collections (Wessex Poems, Moments of Vision, Poems of 1912–13).
Literary Identity
Novels: Realist, tragic, socially critical; themes of fate, class, love, and rural life.
Poetry: Philosophical, elegiac, deeply personal; often meditating on time, death, nature, and memory.
Strong influence of Darwinism and agnostic thought: Life governed not by God but by chance, nature, and impersonal forces.
Stylistically:
Simple diction
Folk-ballad rhythms
Rural imagery
Symbolism & irony
Deeply anti-romantic in its tragic realism
Achievements & Legacy
Recognized as a major Victorian novelist and one of the greatest English poets of the 20th century.
Transition figure: from Victorian to Modernist literature.
Admired by modern poets like T.S. Eliot, Philip Larkin, and W.H. Auden.
Buried in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey (though his heart was buried in Dorset).
Quick Pointers
Genre: Elegiac lyric, meditative poem.
Collection: Moments of Vision (1917).
Structure: 5 quatrains, iambic pentameter, conversational refrain.
Key motifs: Postern (death’s gate), May leaves, dusk hawk, hedgehog, winter stars, funeral bell.
Philosophy: Hardy’s “stoic humanism” — acceptance of death, compassion for life, finding meaning in noticing.
Poet’s identity: Major Victorian novelist & modern poet, bridging two literary eras.
Stanza 1
Line-by-Line Simple Explanation
1. “When the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay,”
Meaning: When my life is over (the “present” closes the little gate—postern—after my fragile existence).
Simple: After I die, and the world shuts its door on my weak life.
2. “And the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings,”
Meaning: In the springtime of May, the fresh green leaves move joyfully in the wind like bird wings.
Simple: The spring leaves move in the air like happy wings.
3. “Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk, will the neighbours say,”
Meaning: The thin, delicate texture of leaves is as fine as freshly woven silk. Then Hardy wonders if people will say something about him.
Simple: Leaves are as soft as silk. Will people talk about me?
4. “He was a man who used to notice such things”
Meaning: Will people remember me as someone who cared about and noticed little beauties of nature?
Simple: Will they say, “He loved to notice small things in nature”?
Word Meanings in Urdu, Hindi, Bengali (Simplest)
Word | Urdu | Hindi | Bengali | Meaning (English) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Present | حال | वर्तमान | বর্তমান | Current time |
Latched | بند کیا | बंद किया | আটকানো | Closed/fastened |
Postern | چھوٹا دروازہ | पिछला दरवाज़ा | ছোট দরজা | Small back gate |
Tremulous | کانپتا ہوا | काँपता हुआ | কাঁপা | Shaking, weak |
Stay | قیام | ठहराव | থাকা | Life, remaining |
May | مئی | मई | মে | Month of May |
Flaps | پھڑپھڑانا | फड़फड़ाना | ডানা ঝাপটানো | Move like wings |
Glad | خوش | खुश | আনন্দিত | Joyful |
Leaves | پتے | पत्ते | পাতা | Green parts of plant |
Wings | پر | पंख | ডানা | Wings of birds |
Delicate | نازک | नाज़ुक | সূক্ষ্ম | Fragile, soft |
Filmed | جھلی | झिल्ली | পাতলা আস্তরণ | Thin covering |
Silk | ریشم | रेशम | রেশম | Fine soft cloth |
Neighbours | پڑوسی | पड़ोसी | প্রতিবেশী | People living nearby |
Notice | غور کرنا | ध्यान देना | খেয়াল করা | Observe, see |
Things | چیزیں | चीज़ें | জিনিসপত্র | Objects, matters |
Summary and Critical Analysis
This stanza reflects Hardy’s awareness of death and legacy. He imagines a time “afterwards” when he will no longer exist, symbolized by the “postern” (a small back door) closing after his “tremulous stay” (his fragile life). He contrasts death with the lively, renewing energy of nature in May—the leaves fluttering like wings, delicate as silk. Then comes his quiet, humble wish: will people remember him as someone who truly noticed and cherished the small beauties of the natural world?
Critical analysis:
Hardy is not concerned with fame or grand legacy, but with being remembered as an observer of beauty.
The imagery of silk, wings, and May emphasizes nature’s renewal, highlighting the contrast between human mortality and nature’s eternal cycle.
The tone is gentle, reflective, almost wistful, showing Hardy’s acceptance of death but also his desire for meaningful remembrance.
The stanza mixes melancholy with tenderness, making it both personal and universal.
Literary Devices (Table with Explanation)
Device | Example (Words) | Explanation |
---|---|---|
Metaphor | “Present has latched its postern” | Life ending is compared to a gate being closed. |
Personification | “Present has latched” | Time (Present) acts like a person shutting a door. |
Symbolism | “Postern” | Symbol of transition from life to death. |
Alliteration | “flaps its glad green leaves” | Repetition of ‘g’ sound for musical rhythm. |
Simile | “leaves like wings” | Leaves compared to wings. |
Simile | “Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk” | Leaves compared to silk threads. |
Imagery | “Glad green leaves,” “new-spun silk” | Visual and tactile sensory imagery. |
Tone | Whole stanza | Reflective, tender, humble. |
Rhetorical Question | “Will the neighbours say…?” | A question not seeking answer but showing inner wish. |
Contrast | Fragile human life vs. eternal renewal of nature | Creates emotional depth. |
Stanza 2
Line-by-Line Simple Explanation
1. “If it be in the dusk when, like an eyelid’s soundless blink,”
Meaning: At twilight (dusk), when the evening falls suddenly and silently, like the quiet closing of an eyelid.
Simple: When evening comes quietly, like a blink of the eye.
2. “The dewfall-hawk comes crossing the shades to alight”
Meaning: A hawk (nightjar or twilight bird) flies across the dim shadows of dusk to land.
Simple: A bird flies in the evening shadows to settle down.
3. “Upon the wind-warped upland thorn, a gazer may think,”
Meaning: The bird lands on a crooked thorn bush bent by the wind, on the hilltop. Someone watching might think of Hardy.
Simple: The bird sits on a thorny bush shaped by the wind, and someone looking might remember Hardy.
4. “To him this must have been a familiar sight.”
Meaning: Observers may say Hardy often noticed such moments of evening birds and natural scenes.
Simple: People may remember: “He often saw such sights.”
Word Meanings in Urdu, Hindi, Bengali (Simplest)
Word | Urdu (اردو) | Hindi (हिंदी) | Bengali (বাংলা) | Meaning (English) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dusk | غروب کا وقت | संध्या | গোধূলি | Evening light |
Eyelid | پلک | पलक | চোখের পাতা | Cover of the eye |
Blink | جھپکنا | झपकना | চোখের পলক | Quick closing of eyes |
Soundless | بے آواز | बिना आवाज़ | নিঃশব্দ | Without sound |
Blink | جھپک | झपक | পলক ফেলা | Quick eye close |
Dewfall | شبنم گرنا | ओस गिरना | শিশির পড়া | Dew dropping |
Hawk | باز | बाज | বাজপাখি | Bird of prey |
Shades | سائے | छाया | ছায়া | Shadows, darkness |
Alight | اترنا | उतरना | বসা | Land, settle |
Wind-warped | ہوا سے مڑا ہوا | हवा से टेढ़ा | হাওয়ায় বেঁকানো | Twisted by wind |
Upland | بلند زمین | ऊँची भूमि | উঁচু জমি | High ground |
Thorn | کانٹا | काँटा | কাঁটা | Thorny plant |
Gazer | دیکھنے والا | देखने वाला | দর্শক | Observer |
Familiar | مانوس | परिचित | পরিচিত | Known, usual |
Sight | منظر | दृश्य | দৃশ্য | Scene, view |
Summary and Critical Analysis
This stanza again dwells on Hardy’s wish for remembrance. The poet imagines dusk, a symbol of death, falling silently like a blinking eyelid. At this time, a bird (the “dewfall-hawk,” often taken as a nightjar) crosses the dim evening sky and perches on a thorn bush bent by the wind. Hardy wonders if future observers will connect such natural sights to him—will they say, “This is what Hardy loved and watched”?
Critical analysis:
The stanza emphasizes Hardy’s closeness to ordinary yet beautiful details of nature.
Dusk is symbolic of mortality, but the bird landing suggests continuity and life moving forward.
Hardy expresses a humble, modest hope—not for fame, but to be remembered as a man who noticed twilight birds and simple natural sights.
The imagery contrasts silence and movement (soundless blink vs. hawk crossing), mirroring life and death.
Tone remains reflective, blending melancholy with peace.
Literary Devices (Table with Explanation)
Device | Example (Words) | Explanation |
---|---|---|
Simile | “like an eyelid’s soundless blink” | Twilight compared to a silent blink. |
Metaphor | Dusk = blink of an eyelid | Evening compared to human action. |
Personification | “dusk…blink” | Evening is given human ability. |
Imagery | “dewfall-hawk… wind-warped upland thorn” | Creates vivid visual picture of bird and thorn. |
Symbolism | Dusk = death; Hawk = fleeting beauty of nature | Deep symbolic meaning. |
Alliteration | “wind-warped” | Repetition of ‘w’ sound for effect. |
Contrast | Silent dusk vs. moving bird | Shows tension between stillness and activity. |
Tone | Gentle, reflective | Mood is meditative. |
Rhetorical Suggestion | “To him this must have been a familiar sight” | Suggests memory and connection with poet’s life. |
Stanza 3
Line-by-Line Simple Explanation
1. “If I pass during some nocturnal blackness, mothy and warm,”
Meaning: If I die at night, in the dark, warm atmosphere filled with moths.
Simple: If I leave the world on a warm, dark night when moths are flying.
2. “When the hedgehog travels furtively over the lawn,”
Meaning: When the small hedgehog quietly and secretly moves across the grass.
Simple: When a hedgehog secretly walks on the grass at night.
3. “One may say, ‘He strove that such innocent creatures should come to no harm,’”
Meaning: People might say Hardy cared about harmless creatures like hedgehogs and wished to protect them.
Simple: They may say, “He wanted little animals to stay safe.”
4. “But he could do little for them; and now he is gone.”
Meaning: But Hardy had limited power to protect them, and now he is dead.
Simple: But he could not do much for them, and now he is no more.
Word Meanings in Urdu, Hindi, Bengali (Simplest)
Word | Urdu (اردو) | Hindi (हिंदी) | Bengali (বাংলা) | Meaning (English) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pass | گزر جانا | गुजर जाना | চলে যাওয়া | To die, to depart |
Nocturnal | رات کا | रात्रि का | নিশাচর | Of the night |
Blackness | تاریکی | अंधकार | অন্ধকার | Darkness |
Mothy | پروں والا کیڑا | पतंगा जैसा | পোকামাকড় ভরা | Full of moths |
Warm | گرم | गर्म | উষ্ণ | Warm temperature |
Hedgehog | کانٹوں والا جانور | कांटेदार जानवर | কাঁটাওয়ালা জন্তু | Small spiny animal |
Travels | چلنا | चलना | চলাফেরা | Moves, walks |
Furtively | چھپکے سے | छुपकर | গোপনে | Secretly, quietly |
Lawn | لان (گھاس کا میدان) | लॉन (घास का मैदान) | লন (ঘাসের মাঠ) | Grass field |
Strove | کوشش کی | प्रयास किया | চেষ্টা করেছিল | Tried hard |
Innocent | معصوم | मासूम | নির্দোষ | Harmless |
Creatures | مخلوق | जीव | প্রাণী | Living beings |
Harm | نقصان | हानि | ক্ষতি | Damage, injury |
Gone | چلا گیا | चला गया | চলে গেছে | Dead, departed |
Summary + Critical Analysis (Combined)
This stanza connects Hardy’s legacy with his compassion for humble, defenseless creatures. He imagines himself dying on a warm, moth-filled night, while a hedgehog quietly crosses a garden lawn. He hopes people will remember that he cared about protecting such small animals. Yet, he accepts his human limitation: he could not protect them much, and now, in death, he can do nothing at all.
Critical analysis:
Hardy emphasizes his empathy not for grand causes but for tiny, overlooked beings (hedgehogs, moths).
This reveals his humane philosophy—value lies in kindness and sensitivity to life in all forms.
The stanza highlights the contrast between intention and power: Hardy tried but could not do much, showing both humility and realism.
The imagery of “nocturnal blackness” creates a mood of death and mystery, while the hedgehog introduces innocence.
The tone is tender, self-effacing, and reflective.
Literary Devices (Table with Explanation)
Device | Example (Words) | Explanation |
---|---|---|
Imagery | “Nocturnal blackness, mothy and warm” | Creates a sensory picture of night with heat and moths. |
Symbolism | Hedgehog = innocence, vulnerability | Represents small creatures Hardy cared for. |
Alliteration | “Hedgehog… furtively… lawn” | Soft repetition adds flow. |
Irony | “He strove… but he could do little” | Shows the gap between intention and result. |
Tone | Gentle, regretful, compassionate | Reflective about human limits. |
Contrast | Effort vs. powerlessness | Hardy’s kindness vs. inability. |
Pathos | “Now he is gone” | Evokes sadness and sympathy. |
Personification | “nocturnal blackness” | Night described with living qualities. |
Stanza 4
Line-by-Line Simple Explanation
1. “If, when hearing that I have been stilled at last, they stand at the door,”
Meaning: If people hear that I have finally died (my life stilled), and they stand by the doorway.
Simple: When they hear I am dead, and they stand at the door.
2. “Watching the full-starred heavens that winter sees,”
Meaning: Looking at the winter sky filled with bright stars.
Simple: They see the clear winter night sky full of stars.
3. “Will this thought rise on those who will meet my face no more,”
Meaning: Will those who can never see me again have this thought?
Simple: Will they think about me when I am gone?
4. “‘He was one who had an eye for such mysteries’?”
Meaning: Will people remember me as someone who loved and noticed the mysteries of the night sky?
Simple: Will they say, “He noticed the mysteries of stars and skies”?
Word Meanings in Urdu, Hindi, Bengali (Simplest)
Word | Urdu (اردو) | Hindi (हिंदी) | Bengali (বাংলা) | Meaning (English) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hearing | سننا | सुनना | শোনা | Listening |
Stilled | خاموش ہوا / رکا | शांत हुआ / थमा | থেমে গেছে | Stopped, silenced (death) |
Door | دروازہ | दरवाज़ा | দরজা | Doorway |
Watching | دیکھنا | देखना | দেখা | Looking |
Full-starred | ستاروں سے بھرا | तारों से भरा | নক্ষত্রে ভরা | Filled with stars |
Heavens | آسمان | आकाश | আকাশ | Sky, firmament |
Winter | سردی کا موسم | सर्दी का मौसम | শীত | Cold season |
Thought | خیال | विचार | চিন্তা | Idea, memory |
Rise | اٹھنا | उठना | ওঠা | To come up |
Meet | ملنا | मिलना | দেখা করা | To see, encounter |
Mysteries | راز | रहस्य | রহস্য | Secrets, wonders |
Summary and Critical Analysis
Here Hardy imagines the moment after his death, when people stand outside their houses looking at the star-filled winter sky. He wonders if they will think of him as a man who had a deep appreciation for life’s mysteries — especially the beauty of the heavens.
Critical analysis:
The “stilled at last” is a gentle metaphor for death, softening its harshness.
The star-filled winter sky symbolizes both mystery and eternity, contrasting human mortality with cosmic permanence.
Hardy’s desire is not for grandeur or fame but for being remembered as someone sensitive to beauty and mystery.
The stanza emphasizes memory, mystery, and mortality, central themes of the poem.
Tone: meditative, cosmic, and humble.
Literary Devices (Table with Explanation)
Device | Example (Words) | Explanation |
---|---|---|
Metaphor | “stilled at last” | Death described as stillness. |
Imagery | “full-starred heavens that winter sees” | Vivid picture of a clear starry night. |
Symbolism | Winter sky = mystery of eternity | Represents cosmic wonder and the unknown. |
Personification | “this thought rise” | Thought rising as though alive. |
Tone | Gentle, meditative, reverent | Mood of cosmic reflection. |
Rhetorical Question | “Will this thought rise…” | Reflects Hardy’s self-doubt about remembrance. |
Contrast | Mortal death vs. immortal stars | Highlights fragility of human life. |
Alliteration | “full-starred… sees” | Soft repetition adds flow. |
Stanza 5
Line-by-Line Simple Explanation
1. “And will any say when my bell of quittance is heard in the gloom,”
Meaning: When the church bell tolls for my death (“bell of quittance” = funeral bell), will anyone say something about me?
Simple: When the death bell rings in the dark, will people speak of me?
2. “And a crossing breeze cuts a pause in its outrollings,”
Meaning: When the sound of the bell is interrupted for a moment by a passing wind.
Simple: When the wind breaks the bell’s ringing sound.
3. “Till they rise again, as they were a new bell’s boom,”
Meaning: Then the bell sounds again, as if starting fresh, like a new ringing.
Simple: Then the sound begins again, as if a new bell rang.
4. “‘He hears it not now, but used to notice such things?’”
Meaning: Will people say Hardy can no longer hear the bell, but he was once someone who noticed and cared about such small details?
Simple: Will they say, “He cannot hear it now, but once he noticed such things”?
Word Meanings in Urdu, Hindi, Bengali (Simplest)
Word | Urdu (اردو) | Hindi (हिंदी) | Bengali (বাংলা) | Meaning (English) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bell | گھنٹی | घंटी | ঘণ্টা | Bell |
Quittance | رخصتی / بخشش | मुक्ति / छुटकारा | মুক্তি / পরিত্রাণ | Release, here = death/funeral |
Gloom | اندھیرا | अंधेरा | অন্ধকার | Darkness |
Crossing | گزرنے والی | गुजरती हुई | অতিক্রম করা | Passing |
Breeze | ہوا کا جھونکا | हवा का झोंका | হাওয়ার ঝাপটা | Light wind |
Cuts | کاٹنا | काटता | কেটে দেয় | Breaks, interrupts |
Pause | وقفہ | विराम | বিরতি | Short stop |
Outrollings | پھیلتی گھنٹی کی آواز | गूँजती घंटी की ध्वनि | ঘণ্টার ধ্বনি ছড়ানো | Spreading sound of bell |
Boom | گونج | गूंज | ধ্বনি | Loud sound |
Hears | سنتا | सुनता | শোনে | To listen |
Notice | غور کیا | ध्यान दिया | খেয়াল করেছে | To observe |
Things | چیزیں | चीज़ें | জিনিসপত্র | Objects, matters |
Summary annd Critical Analysis
This final stanza closes the poem with Hardy’s ultimate question: after the funeral bell rings for him, will people remember him as someone who noticed small, delicate details of life? The sound of the bell, interrupted and renewed by the wind, symbolizes both life’s fragility and its ongoing cycles. Hardy accepts he cannot hear the bell anymore, but hopes others will recall that he once paid attention to such fleeting, unnoticed experiences.
Critical analysis:
“Bell of quittance” symbolizes death and release, tying back to mortality.
The imagery of wind interrupting the bell emphasizes impermanence and the fragility of human presence.
The repetition of “notice such things” (also seen in stanza one) circles back to Hardy’s modest wish: not fame, but remembrance as a quiet observer.
The stanza binds together themes of death, memory, and sensitivity to nature and detail.
Tone: gentle, resigned, yet peaceful.
Literary Devices (Table with Explanation)
Device | Example (Words) | Explanation |
---|---|---|
Symbolism | “Bell of quittance” | Symbol of death and final release. |
Imagery | “Crossing breeze cuts a pause” | Vivid sensory picture of sound interrupted by wind. |
Alliteration | “Bell… boom” | Repetition of ‘b’ adds rhythm. |
Metaphor | Funeral bell = death’s announcement | Abstract concept made concrete. |
Personification | “Breeze cuts a pause” | Breeze acts like a person cutting sound. |
Tone | Reflective, final, peaceful | Concludes poem with calm acceptance. |
Repetition | “Notice such things” | Recalls earlier stanza, closing the circle. |
Contrast | Sound (bell) vs. silence (death) | Highlights Hardy’s absence. |
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