Description: Critical analysis on the poem The Workbox written by Thomas Hardy. Focusing on the tone and voice in which the poem was written in. Written for Hum300 class as of Summer 08 Quarter.

In the poem, The Workbox by Thomas Hardy, the author is delivering a message with the undertone of intense irony to his wife. The tone of voice is in poetry, as in any other form of writing, is something very important because it lets the reader know the situation through feeling. The use of setting the voice in a poem makes the writing a lot more entertaining and allows for the words to flow better into the mind of the reader. Right from the first paragraph of this poem, the sense of irony is jumping off the pages. The whole point in the workbox is to make the wife feel as insignificant as she thinks he is. After all, the wife believes he knows nothing of her knowing of this John character, but the narrator obviously does and perhaps is even jealous of their prior relationship. In a way he is trying to coax her into some sort of unspoken confession:

“But why do you look so white, my dear,; And turn aside your face?; You knew not that good lad, I fear,; Though he came from your native place?” (Hardy)

However after the act of presenting the box to his wife, he did not foresee her entire reaction. While he only expected her to be shocked with his work and perhaps sort of outcome with saddens - there was another emotion showing through.

“Yet still her lips were limp and wan,; Her face still held aside,; As if she had known not only John,; But known of what he died. (Hardy)

This line again provides a visual with the tone it is being said and now adds mystery to the overlaying sense of irony.

From the various poems assigned this week in class, the personal favorite of mine had to be The Workbox without any doubt. As a reader I look forward to poems with underlying messages. In this poem I find all the elements that make for an interesting piece of writing: irony, mystery, and morbid humor. I enjoyed the fact the man decides to come directly forward with his wife but instead “plays with her mind”. This action of course back fires in a sense because he did not expect to find out what he did through her reaction - which she had perhaps, had something to do with the death of John. Overall this poem makes for a good reading, as do many other poems written by Hardy, and definitely has that entertaining factor that makes it memorable for readers.