Thomas Hardy : ‘Afterwards’, ‘Bags of Meat’, ‘Weathers’

Thomas Hardy: Your Guide to ‘Afterwards’, ‘Bags of Meat’, & ‘Weathers’

Hello! Welcome to your study notes for Thomas Hardy. Don't worry if poetry sometimes feels a bit tricky. We're going to break down these three poems together, piece by piece. By the end, you'll understand what Hardy was trying to say about nature, life, and death, and you'll know exactly how to analyse his work for your exam.

In these notes, we'll explore:

• Afterwards: A quiet poem about how a person might be remembered after they're gone.
• Bags of Meat: A striking poem that exposes human callousness and the reduction of living farm animals to mere commodities at an auction.
• Weathers: A poem of two halves, showing how the weather can completely change our world and our feelings.

Let's get started!

First, Who Was Thomas Hardy? (1840–1928)

Knowing a little about the poet can help us understand his work better. Think of it as getting the background story before you watch a movie!

• Man of the Countryside: Hardy grew up and lived most of his life in a rural part of England called Dorset (which he called "Wessex" in his writing). He had a deep, lifelong connection to nature, and you'll see it in all three of these poems.
• A Little Gloomy?: Hardy’s work often has a sad or pessimistic (negative) feel. He was very interested in fate, time, and how small human lives are compared to the vastness of nature and the universe. But he also saw great beauty in the world, especially in the little details.
• Poet at Heart: Although famous for his novels (like Tess of the d'Urbervilles), Hardy thought of himself as a poet first and foremost.

Did you know?

Before becoming a famous writer, Thomas Hardy was a trained architect! This eye for detail and structure can be seen in the careful way he builds his poems.

Poem 1: ‘Afterwards’

The Big Idea

This poem is a gentle reflection on death and legacy. The speaker wonders, "When I'm gone, will people remember me?" But he doesn't want to be remembered for big, heroic deeds. He hopes people will remember him as someone who noticed the small, beautiful details of nature.

Stanza-by-Stanza Breakdown

Stanza 1

"When the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay..."

The speaker imagines the moment of his death. He asks if his neighbours will say he was a man who noticed simple things, like the new spring leaves flapping like wings in May ("Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk"). The leaves are an image of the fragile, recurring beauty of nature in springtime.

• Key Device: Personification. The "Present" is given the human action of latching a gate ("postern"). This makes time feel like a closing door, a powerful and final image for the end of life.

Stanza 2

The speaker wonders if people will remember him when the "dewfall-hawk" (a nightjar) glides silently across the twilight "like an eyelid's soundless blink". He hopes they will think of him as someone for whom such quiet, fleeting scenes were familiar and precious.

• Key Device: Imagery & Simile. Hardy compares the silent flight of the nightjar to a "soundless blink" of an eyelid, emphasizing absolute stillness and keen observation.

Stanza 3

Now the creature is an innocent hedgehog travelling across the lawn on a warm, dark night. The speaker wonders if someone will remember that he cared deeply and sought to protect such helpless, unloved creatures from harm.

Stanza 4

The speaker imagines his death being announced to people who "stand at the door, / Watching the full-starred heavens that winter sees". He wonders if those who will never see his face again will think, "He was one who had an eye for such mysteries".

• Key Device: Diction (Word Choice). Words like "tremulous" (shaking), "furtively" and "full-starred" create a sense of gentleness, delicacy, and awe before the vast universe.

Stanza 5

The poem ends with the sound of a passing bell ("my bell of quittance") tolling to announce his death. A "crossing breeze cuts a pause in its outrollings", and he imagines a neighbour saying, "He hears it not now, but used to notice such things." The final line echoes the first stanza and is a quiet acceptance of his legacy.

Quick Review: ‘Afterwards’

Main Idea: Wondering if you'll be remembered as someone who noticed and cared for the small details of nature.
Tone: Gentle, reflective, melancholic (a little sad), and accepting.
Key Themes: Death, legacy, memory, humanity's connection with nature.
Key Technique: Using vivid sensory vignettes of rural wildlife and night skies to represent the quiet observations of a lifetime.

Poem 2: ‘Bags of Meat’

The Big Idea

Get ready for a change of pace! This poem is direct, uncomfortable, and critical. Hardy takes us to a lively agricultural auction ring, exposing how living, sentient animals (a steer, a heifer, a bull, and a calf) are stripped of their dignity and commodified as mere "bags of meat" by human buyers and auctioneers.

Stanza-by-Stanza Breakdown

Stanzas 1 & 2

"'Here's a fine bag of meat,' / Says the master-auctioneer..."

The scene is set inside a noisy livestock sale ring. The auctioneer introduces each frightened animal to the crowd. Hardy shows us the "timid, quivering steer" and the confused heifer, contrasting their fear and vulnerability with the callous sales talk of the auctioneer.

• Key Device: Diction & Dehumanisation. Calling a living, breathing beast a "bag of meat" reduces a sentient creature to an inanimate lump of flesh and commercial profit.

Stanzas 3 & 4

A young bull and a tender calf are brought forward next. The auctioneer continues to hype their weight and quality to the bidders, while the animals look on bewildered, having no understanding of their grim fate at the hands of the butchers.

• Key Device: Dramatic Irony & Juxtaposition. Hardy contrasts the noisy, casual banter of the farmers and butchers with the silent terror and innocence of the livestock standing before them.

Quick Review: ‘Bags of Meat’

Main Idea: Highlighting the cruel commodification of farm animals and human indifference toward their suffering.
Tone: Critical, grim, satirical, and empathetic toward the animals.
Key Themes: Man's cruelty vs. nature's innocence, commercial exploitation, slaughter and vulnerability.
Key Technique: Juxtaposition between the lively auctioneer's commercial language and the physical fear of the living beasts.

Poem 3: ‘Weathers’

The Big Idea

This poem is a perfect example of contrast. It is split into two clear parts. The first stanza describes a beautiful, sunny spring day and the joy it brings. The second stanza describes a miserable, rainy autumn day and the gloom it causes. Hardy shows the immense power of nature (specifically the weather) to control human mood and activity.

A Poem of Two Halves

Part 1: Good Weather (Stanza 1)

"This is the weather the cuckoo likes,"

This stanza is full of life and joy! Hardy paints a picture of a perfect spring day. Showers "betumble the chestnut spikes", nestlings fly, "the little brown nightingale bills his best", people sit outside at "The Traveller's Rest", "maids come forth sprig-muslin drest" and "citizens dream of the south and west". The rhythm is bouncy and musical, and the rhymes are simple and cheerful (likes/spikes, best/Rest/drest/west), tied together by the refrain "And so do I".

• Key Device: Sound Devices. Notice the alliteration (repetition of initial sounds) in "the little brown nightingale bills his best", the chain of rhymes (best/Rest/drest/west) and the refrain "And so do I". These help create the light, musical feeling of the stanza.
• Imagery: The imagery is all positive and full of life: "cuckoo," "showers," "chestnut spikes," "nestlings," "nightingale," "sprig-muslin."

Part 2: Bad Weather (Stanza 2)

"This is the weather the shepherd shuns,"

The mood changes completely. This stanza describes wet, cold, miserable weather. The beeches "drip in browns and duns, / And thresh, and ply", "hill-hid tides throb, throe on throe", "meadow rivulets overflow", "drops on gate-bars hang in a row", and "rooks in families homeward go". The rhythm feels heavier, and the sounds are harsher – yet the refrain "And so do I" returns, because the speaker, like the shepherd, also shuns this weather.

• Key Device: Contrast. The whole poem is built on the contrast between Stanza 1 and Stanza 2. Joy vs. misery, light vs. dark, going out vs. going home.
• Imagery: The imagery is bleak and wet: "shuns," "drip," "browns and duns," "throb," "overflow." Even the birds head for home: "rooks in families homeward go."

Quick Review: ‘Weathers’

Main Idea: Showing how good and bad weather dramatically affect the natural world and human emotions.
Tone: A complete contrast. Stanza 1 is joyful and light. Stanza 2 is gloomy and heavy.
Key Themes: The power of nature, the cycle of seasons, contrast and duality (good/bad, happy/sad).
Key Technique: Structural parallelism and antithesis across the two contrasting stanzas.

Bringing It All Together: Comparing the Poems

For your HKDSE exam (Paper 2, Section B), you will be asked to compare poems—either comparing two poems by Hardy or comparing a Hardy poem with a set poem by another author (e.g. Ted Hughes, Emily Dickinson, Imtiaz Dharker). Let's see how Hardy's three poems connect and contrast.

How do they all explore the Theme: Humanity and Nature?

• ‘Afterwards’: Presents a harmonious relationship. The speaker is a gentle observer and protector of nature. Nature acts as a quiet witness to his life and the backdrop to his legacy.
• ‘Bags of Meat’: Presents an exploitative and cruel relationship. Humans treat animals purely as commercial products, oblivious to the creatures' fear and innocence.
• ‘Weathers’: Presents nature as a controlling environmental force. Humans do not control the seasons; the weather dictates their feelings, work, and behaviour.

How do their Tones differ?

• ‘Afterwards’: Gentle, quiet, and reflective. It feels like an intimate meditation.
• ‘Bags of Meat’: Critical, jarring, and ironic. It confronts the reader with commercial brutality.
• ‘Weathers’: Duality of tone. Stanza 1 is celebratory and rhythmic; Stanza 2 is dreary and somber.

How do they use Imagery?

• ‘Afterwards’ uses delicate, detailed sensory glimpses of rural dusk, wildlife, and star-filled skies.
• ‘Bags of Meat’ uses vivid visual descriptions of frightened livestock in an auction ring juxtaposed with commercial jargon.
• ‘Weathers’ uses seasonal landscape imagery (showers on chestnut spikes and nightingale song vs. dripping beeches, throbbing tides and rooks flying home).

Exam Tip!

If an essay prompt asks how poets present human attitudes toward the natural world, Hardy gives you rich comparisons! You can argue that Hardy shows nature as:
1. A source of quiet beauty and humble contemplation (‘Afterwards’).
2. A victim of human commercial greed and cruelty (‘Bags of Meat’).
3. An inescapable force governing all living things (‘Weathers’).

By understanding these key ideas, themes, and techniques, you are well on your way to mastering Thomas Hardy's poetry. Keep reading them over, and practice explaining these points in your own words. You can do this!