In Thomas Hardy's "He Never Expected Much," an 86-year-old speaker takes a sober look back at life. He feels that the world has lived up to the "promise" it seemed to offer in his youth, but only because it promised so little. Having "Never Expected Much," he's not disappointed; he always saw life as essentially random, so he's been able to cope with its "strain and ache." However, his ironic phrasing hints that his stoic realism may have limited his pleasure as well as his pain. The poem was published in Hardy's final, posthumous collection, Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres (1928).
Get
LitCharts
|
[or]
A Consideration
[A reflection] On My Eighty-Sixth Birthday
1Well, World, you have kept faith with me,
2Kept faith with me;
3Upon the whole you have proved to be
4Much as you said you were.
5Since as a child I used to lie
6Upon the leaze and watch the sky,
7Never, I own, expected I
8That life would all be fair.
9'Twas then you said, and since have said,
10Times since have said,
11In that mysterious voice you shed
12From clouds and hills around:
13"Many have loved me desperately,
14Many with smooth serenity,
15While some have shown contempt of me
16Till they dropped underground.
17"I do not promise overmuch,
18Child; overmuch;
19Just neutral-tinted haps and such,"
20You said to minds like mine.
21Wise warning for your credit's sake!
22Which I for one failed not to take,
23And hence could stem such strain and ache
24As each year might assign.
[or]
A Consideration
[A reflection] On My Eighty-Sixth Birthday
1Well, World, you have kept faith with me,
2Kept faith with me;
3Upon the whole you have proved to be
4Much as you said you were.
5Since as a child I used to lie
6Upon the leaze and watch the sky,
7Never, I own, expected I
8That life would all be fair.
9'Twas then you said, and since have said,
10Times since have said,
11In that mysterious voice you shed
12From clouds and hills around:
13"Many have loved me desperately,
14Many with smooth serenity,
15While some have shown contempt of me
16Till they dropped underground.
17"I do not promise overmuch,
18Child; overmuch;
19Just neutral-tinted haps and such,"
20You said to minds like mine.
21Wise warning for your credit's sake!
22Which I for one failed not to take,
23And hence could stem such strain and ache
24As each year might assign.
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.
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.
'Twas then you said, and since have said,
Times since have said,
In that mysterious voice you shed
From clouds and hills around:
"Many have loved me desperately,
Many with smooth serenity,
While some have shown contempt of me
Till they dropped underground.
"I do not promise overmuch,
Child; overmuch;
Just neutral-tinted haps and such,"
You said to minds like mine.
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.
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.
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).