“He Never Expected Much” Summary

“He Never Expected Much” Themes

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  Realism, Pessimism, and Acceptance

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “He Never Expected Much”

• Lines 1-4

  Well, World, you have kept faith with me,
  Kept faith with me;
  Upon the whole you have proved to be
  Much as you said you were.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  Since as a child I used to lie
  Upon the leaze and watch the sky,
  Never, I own, expected I
  That life would all be fair.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  'Twas then you said, and since have said,
  Times since have said,
  In that mysterious voice you shed
  From clouds and hills around:

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  "Many have loved me desperately,
  Many with smooth serenity,
  While some have shown contempt of me
  Till they dropped underground.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  "I do not promise overmuch,
  Child; overmuch;
  Just neutral-tinted haps and such,"
  You said to minds like mine.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-24

  Wise warning for your credit's sake!
  Which I for one failed not to take,
  And hence could stem such strain and ache
  As each year might assign.

  

  

  

  

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“He Never Expected Much” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Irony

  

  

  

  

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“He Never Expected Much” 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.

• Kept faith with
• Leaze
• Own
• Fair
• 'Twas
• Shed
• Serenity
• Contempt
• Underground
• Overmuch
• Neutral-tinted
• Haps
• For your credit's sake
• Hence
• Stem
• Strain and ache
• Assign

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “He Never Expected Much”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“He Never Expected Much” Speaker

“He Never Expected Much” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “He Never Expected Much”

More “He Never Expected Much” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poet's Life — Read a brief biography of Hardy at the Poetry Foundation.

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of "He Never Expected Much."

  • The Victorian Era — An introduction to the Victorian era in which Hardy lived most of his life, and which continued to influence his poetry into old age.

  • The Modern Era — An introduction to the modernist movement that encompassed Hardy's later years and shaped his poetry as well.

  • The Hardy Society — An organization devoted to the appreciation of Hardy's work (contains a biography and other resources).

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Thomas Hardy

  • A Broken Appointment

  • Afterwards

  • At an Inn

  • At Castle Boterel

  • A Wife in London

  • Channel Firing

  • Drummer Hodge

  • Hap

  • Neutral Tones

  • The Convergence of the Twain

  • The Darkling Thrush

  • The Man He Killed

  • The Oxen

  • The Ruined Maid

  • The Voice

  • Where the Picnic Was