Far From The Madding Crowd

“The poetry of motion is a phrase much in use, and to enjoy the epic form of that gratification it is necessary to stand on a hill at a small hour of the night, and, having first expanded with a sense of difference from the mass of civilised mankind, who are dreamwrapt and disregardful of all such proceedings at this time, long and quietly watch your stately progress through the stars. After such a nocturnal reconnoiter, it is hard to get back to earth, and to believe that the consciousness of such majestic speeding is derived from a tiny human frame.” 

Much of the beauty of the novel lies in these descriptions of rural English life. Here, Hardy contrasts a more modern idea of “the poetry of motion” with a pastoral one: we might think we find poetry in the hustle and bustle of daily life, but here there is poetry in the stillness of the night sky. There is also time—as we learn, Gabriel is able to tell time by the night sky, adding yet another layer to the moment.

“To find themselves utterly alone at night where company is desirable and expected makes some people fearful; but a case more trying by far to the nerves is to discover some mysterious companionship when intuition, sensation, memory, analogy, testimony, probability, induction—every kind of evidence in the logician’s list—have united to persuade consciousness that it is quite in isolation.” 

Throughout the narrative our expectations are upended, and this contrast is an early example of being asked to reconsider our presumptions about a circumstance. Our presumption is that solitude enacts fear, but Hardy suggests here that the opposite might be similarly true (and perhaps worse). 

“Love is a possible strength in an actual weakness. Marriage transforms a distraction into a support, the power of which should be, and happily often is, in direct proportion to the degree of imbecility it supplants.” 

This is a strange and interesting quote for the duality it presents, as well as its reinforcement of norms. Love is a driving force of the novel, which explores social norms through a complex love pentagon. Yet the novel frequently suggests the importance of love and undermines the institution of marriage. The suggestion here seems to be that the sillier the two lovers are, the more marriage is necessary to stabilize them, but even a cursory glance at the events of the novel suggests this is not true.