In Book 1, Chapter 1, Hardy begins to outline the novel’s intense preoccupation with the geography and aura of Egdon Heath. This grassland is an area so powerful and affecting it’s almost a character in itself. In the following passage, the narrator personifies the heath, uses hyperbolic language, and employs vivid imagery to bring it to life for the reader:
The face of the heath by its mere complexion added half-an-hour to eve; it could in like manner retard the dawn, sadden noon, anticipate the frowning of storms scarcely generated, and intensify the opacity of a moonless midnight to a cause of shaking and dread.
The heath is personified as having a “face,” as if it is a person that can make expressions and express emotions. The word “face” here also refers to the flat expanse of its grassland, combining the natural with the supernatural aspect of its “character.” The heath is so powerful, Hardy implies, that it can alter one's perception of time, seasons, daylight, and even weather patterns. This is hyperbolic language , as no area of land can actually “intensify the opacity of a moonless midnight.” However, if anywhere could do this, it seems the heath actually might be able to, at least in the world of the novel. The visual imagery of this passage creates a stark contrast between day and night and between transparency and opacity; the heath is a place of juxtaposition and extremes.
