"A Wife in London" is a bleak anti-war poem by the English poet Thomas Hardy. It was composed two months after the start of the Boer War (1899), a brutal conflict between the British Empire, the South African Republic, and the Orange Free State. Around this time, one prominent newspaper denounced Hardy as a pacifist. The poem focuses on a woman who receives the tragic news of her husband's death in the war. Then, to make matters worse, a letter from the husband himself arrives, talking optimistically about future plans. Hardy made his name as a novelist, writing books such as Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles, but he focused on poetry later on in his career.
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The Full Text of “A Wife in London”
1I — The Tragedy
2She sits in the tawny vapour
3 That the City lanes have uprolled,
4 Behind whose webby fold on fold
5Like a waning taper
6 The street-lamp glimmers cold.
7A messenger's knock cracks smartly,
8 Flashed news is in her hand
9 Of meaning it dazes to understand
10Though shaped so shortly:
11 He—has fallen—in the far South Land...
12II — The Irony
13'Tis the morrow; the fog hangs thicker,
14 The postman nears and goes:
15 A letter is brought whose lines disclose
16By the firelight flicker
17 His hand, whom the worm now knows:
18Fresh—firm—penned in highest feather —
19 Page-full of his hoped return,
20 And of home-planned jaunts by brake and burn
21In the summer weather,
22 And of new love that they would learn.
The Full Text of “A Wife in London”
1I — The Tragedy
2She sits in the tawny vapour
3 That the City lanes have uprolled,
4 Behind whose webby fold on fold
5Like a waning taper
6 The street-lamp glimmers cold.
7A messenger's knock cracks smartly,
8 Flashed news is in her hand
9 Of meaning it dazes to understand
10Though shaped so shortly:
11 He—has fallen—in the far South Land...
12II — The Irony
13'Tis the morrow; the fog hangs thicker,
14 The postman nears and goes:
15 A letter is brought whose lines disclose
16By the firelight flicker
17 His hand, whom the worm now knows:
18Fresh—firm—penned in highest feather —
19 Page-full of his hoped return,
20 And of home-planned jaunts by brake and burn
21In the summer weather,
22 And of new love that they would learn.
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“A Wife in London” Summary
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“A Wife in London” Themes
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War
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Wife in London”
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Lines 1-2
I — The Tragedy
She sits in the tawny vapour -
Lines 3-6
That the City lanes have uprolled,
Behind whose webby fold on fold
Like a waning taper
The street-lamp glimmers cold. -
Lines 7-11
A messenger's knock cracks smartly,
Flashed news is in her hand
Of meaning it dazes to understand
Though shaped so shortly:
He—has fallen—in the far South Land... -
Lines 12-14
II — The Irony
'Tis the morrow; the fog hangs thicker,
The postman nears and goes: -
Lines 1-1
A letter is brought whose lines disclose
By the firelight flicker
His hand, whom the worm now knows:
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Lines 18-22
Fresh—firm—penned in highest feather —
Page-full of his hoped return,
And of home-planned jaunts by brake and burn
In the summer weather,
And of new love that they would learn.
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“A Wife in London” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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Caesura
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Metonymy
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Synecdoche
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Pathetic Fallacy
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Irony
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Enjambment
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Simile
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“A Wife in London” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- tawny
- vapour
- City
- uprolled
- webby
- fold on fold
- waning
- taper
- smartly
- South Land
- morrow
- highest feather
- jaunts
- brake
- burn
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- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Wife in London”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“A Wife in London” Speaker
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“A Wife in London” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “A Wife in London”
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More “A Wife in London” Resources
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External Resources
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"A Wife in London" Reading — A reading of the poem by actor Richard Armitage.
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Boer War Poetry — Further poetry related to the Boer War.
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Radio Documentary — A radio documentary about Hardy's life and work.
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Hardy poetry commentaries — A valuable resource of Hardy poems and analyses, provided by The Thomas Hardy Society.
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Boer War Explanation — A BBC article that gives a clear account of the Boer War.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Thomas Hardy
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