I am trying to understand the effect of rythm in The Voice by Thomas Hardy. KatherineI am looking to understand RYTHM in Thomas Hardy's Neutral...

the rhyme scheme is ABAB, creating a cyclical structure
--> rhythm is repetitive, cyclical, representing the way people can become locked
into grief, inescapable process of emotions ect

in the
final stanza, the anapaestic metre is broken down with use of caesura (punctuation
within a line) : 'Thus I: faltering foward'. this disruption in rhythm implies Hardy is
becoming physically worn by his grief, he's
exhausted!

contrast this to the rhythm of the
last stanza of 'The Going'. here, the last line of the first stanza is
exclamatory:

'To gain one glimpse of you ever
anon!'

as is the last line of the
poem:

'Not even I—would undo me
so!'

-> a cyclical strcture is created, sense of
exasperation repeated at beginning and end implies Hardy can't escape the shock,
frustration of Emma's death.

compare the two
(exhaustion v exasperation) and you have evidence of Hardy's turmoil and confusion
(typical display of grief)