Thomas Hardy

Much like Hopkins, Thomas Hardy is strong in faith; however, the two men’s beliefs are very different. Hardy finds comfort in the thought of a vengeful God who purposely makes life hard for his subjects on earth. This is probably because it is easier to blame your problems on someone or something other then yourself. To be able to blame his sufferings on God would be a convenience to Hardy reassuring him that it was not his fault. He expresses these views in one of his earlier poems, “Hap”. I was drawn to this poem because it is not often that somebody wishes for a vengeful god. Many may choose to believe that there is a high power cursing their life, but this is not usually something they desire. The impression I got from this poem however was that he believes it would be easier to cope and more convenient if this belief were true.
In the first stanza Hardy sets up this desire by wishing that this vengeful god would “call to me from the sky and laugh” at his miseries. This god he creates finds joy in Hardy’s suffering. Which suggests the higher being is the reason his life is miserable.

“Though suffering thing,
Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,
That thy love’s loss is my hate’s profiting!” (2-4)

He clarifies in the second stanza why it is that he creates this vengeful god. Knowing that his problems are out of his control makes him feel more at ease. I think we have all experienced at some point in our life the ease of blaming our problems on anything other than ourselves. Blaming ourselves for our own unhappiness is one of the hardest things to do. Denial is safe and comfortable and it helps us grow numb, but admitting we are the root of our misery (as Hopkins did) is painful and difficult. The second stanza shows Hardy having those same thoughts that if this god had given him these problems he would have no choice to grin and bear it. Hardy admits in the third stanza that this is not the case and no such god exists. Rather is unhappiness is by chance.
The translation for word Hap is “chance” and I think that is very important to keep in mind when interpreting this poem. The first time I read this poem I neglected to note this definition and was having a hard time understand the final stanza. However once I took that into account it made a lot more sense. Happiness in life is a gamble. Hardy admits there may not be a vengeful god, but there is no opposite either. “And dicing time for gladness casts a moan…” (12) Here he shows that his misery was the result of the gamble of life. Life does not come with any guarantees. Even in today’s society, we are all given the right to the pursuit of happiness but we are not guaranteed to have that final product, I think this is a thought that Hardy is trying to express in his poem.
I admired how honest Hardy was in admitting his wish for the ability to place the blame for his own misfortunes on somebody other then himself. It is hard for us to admit to being the reason for our misery and even harder to admit when we do place blame unfairly. I do not necessarily agree with the desire for a vengeful god, I personally find comfort in my faith of a loving, compassionate God.