The+Subalterns


 * "Poor wanderer," said the leaden sky,**
 * "I fain would lighten thee,**
 * But there are laws in force on high**
 * Which say it must not be."**


 * "I would not freeze thee, shorn one," cried**
 * The North, "knew I but how**
 * To warm my breath, to slack my stride;**
 * But I am ruled as thou."**


 * "To-morrow I attack thee, wight,"**
 * Said Sickness. "Yet I swear**
 * I bear thy little ark no spite,**
 * But am bid enter there."**


 * "Come hither, Son," I heard Death say;**
 * "I did not will a grave**
 * Should end thy pilgrimage to-day,**
 * But I, too, am a slave!"**

> > >
 * We smiled upon each other then,**
 * And life to me had less**
 * Of that fell look it wore ere when**
 * They owned their passiveness.**
 * ==__Early Life__==
 * ** Thomas Hardy **
 * ** June 2nd, 1840 to January 11, 1928**
 * **From Dorsets, England**
 * **Architect before writing**
 * ==__**Later Years**__==
 * **Criticized for pessimism**
 * **Left fiction, started poetry**
 * **18 poetry collections**
 * **Theme: The laws of nature must be as they are and have nothing against humans.**
 * **Speaker: 1st person, perhaps Hardy. It could be the entities of nature.**
 * **Meter: The 1st and 3rd lines of each stanza are 8 to 9 syllables. The 2nd and 4th lines of each stanza are 6 syllables.**
 * **ABAB/CDCD**
 * **Emotion: Bittersweet. All the forces of nature say "poor wanderer." One may perceive this poem as being a depressing or hopeful one. The obstacles one faces in life do not control themselves, but rather are governed by the laws of nature.**
 * **Rhetoric Devices: From the Old English diction, the poem is a harsh journey through life. The Subalterns makes us picture the freezing North winds, dark night sky, and death.**
 * **Tone: Each force of nature contributes to the tone of this poem. All of them agree that they have no grudge nor vendetta against the wanderer -they would rather leave him alone.**
 * **Rhetoric Devices: Personification is the most widely used in this because the poem is a personification. North winds can "breathe," the sky has sympathy. Even death has a voice. Each verse is a complex/compound sentence about life.**

1. What does "wight mean?
a. man b. creature c. immediately d. white

2. What message does that author get across by saying "i fain would lighten thee."? a. the sky would become thinner b. the sky would become brighter c. the sky would become colder d. the sky would heal the wanderer's injuries

3. The Purpose of this poem is to a. Sadden b. Reassure c. Confuse d. Mock

4. The tone of the poem is a. melancholy b. sanguine c. bittersweet d. brave

5. What does "Subalterns" mean? a. Multiple personalities b. Outsiders of a home/colony c. A military rank d. A region in England by Rick G