Voyage of a Wavering Mind: Phantasmagoric Space in Thomas Hardy’s “Poems of 1912-13”

Abstract

“Poems of 1912-13” are elegies that Thomas Hardy
composed after the sudden death of his wife, Emma Gilford. The
psychological impact of her death on Hardy is suggested by both
his mental images of and real visits to Cornwall and Dorset,
England. In the twenty-one poems, the landscapes not only
represent sceneries, but also epitomize Hardy’s subconscious
mind and long-buried affections. The space in which he traveled
helps to construct a distinct image of the poet, harrowed with a
doleful conscience, whose memories and imageries are aggregated
in collages of phantasms and phantasmagorias. In order to
explore the geographical, temporal and perspectival contrasts in
the “Poems of 1912-13,” I intend to apply Kevin Lynch's and
Henri Lefebvre’s theories to examine Hardy’s spatial practices,
namely, practices that consist of