What is the tone of Drummer Hodge the poem?

Answer 1

Thomas Hardy loved writing poetry and his huge volume of poetry and wide subject matter is testimony to this. Drummer Hodge explores the theme of war and can be summarised as a young soldier who is slain in a foreign land, in this case South Africa during the Boer War. It describes his burial, and how his body will belong to Another Country rather than his homeland.

The rhyming scheme is very structured, ababab (Stanza 1). This structure fits in with the rhythm that is regimented when you read it out loud and fits perfectly with the war theme. In this instance war isn't glorified. The three stanzas are presented with three different times. The first one refers to the present, what is happening to the soldier, then past, an exploration of how he ended up in Africa followed by the future which is explored in more depth below.

In the first stanza there is an immediate lack of respect for the soldier when Hardy writes,

"They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest" (Line 1)

The tone is cold and matter-of-fact because his body isn't placed in the ground it is thrown in. There is the sense of rushing which is mirrored with the words "uncoffined" (Line 2) and "mound" (Line 6). There is no time for sentiment or a burial service. There is the need for urgency as the men alive are still fighting. For the reader there is the sense of isolation for a British man who is far away from his homeland and use of words such as "kopje-crest" (Line 3) enhances this fact.

In the second stanza written about the past, Hardy informs us of the soldier's naivety and youth when he uses the word "Young" to describe him and the words "never knew" in the first line of this verse. He has no knowledge of what Africa indicated in his ignorance of:

"The meaning of the broad Karoo," (Stanza 2, Line 3)

This creates the pathos in the poem because he is vulnerable and misguided because he knows nothing about Africa as a country or the reality of War.

The final stanza written about Hodge's future explores the idea of how Hodge becomes a part of the country he fought against.

"Yet portion of that unknown plain

Will Hodge forever be." (Stanza 3, lines 1 and 2)

It is ironic he has to live away from home forever and he will help the trees in the Southern Hemisphere to grow as his body decomposes. The words "strange eyed constellations" (Stanza 3, Line 5) express the differences of where he will remain forever but also leaves an image of Drummer Hodge having strange eyes if he'd thought this is what war would be like and where he'd end up. The fact we never know his proper name also adds to its poignancy.

Whilst this was written with reference to the Boer War, it could quite easily relate to any war where people lose their lives giving it a timeless quality.

Answer 2

A sad poem.