Channel Firing

Thomas Hardy

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1914

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Related Poems

"Drummer Hodge" by Thomas Hardy (1899)

Possibly Hardy’s most famous poem about warfare, “Drummer Hodge” tells the story of the burial of a soldier named Hodge, a drummer in the British army during the Second Boer War in 1899. In contrast with “Channel Firing,” “Drummer Hodge” is much more solemn, with no trace of humor or satire, as it is primarily concerned with a soldier who died very far from his home. The bleaker tone and more complex diction of this earlier work reflect Hardy’s previous associations with the literary movement known as Realism that was still in vogue at the end of the 19th century when he wrote the poem.

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"Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen (1917)

Written in the fall of 1917 while recovering from shellshock, Wilfred Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth” is one of the most pivotal poems of World War I. The poem is a lament to the young soldiers who perished during the war, describing some of the bloodiest battles and the funerals that followed. A take on the Petrarchan sonnet, the poem flips the classic form traditionally reserved for love on its head by describing instead the violence of war and the deadly quiet that follows in its wake.

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"The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot (1922)

Almost 10 years after Hardy published “Channel Firing,” Eliot’s “Waste Land” describes the post-apocalyptic world that Hardy’s poem fears will become the fate of all mankind following WWI. The long poem is a definitive piece of Modernist poetry that addresses the moral and ethical failings of modern society. However, Eliot’s poem remains hopeful even after so much violence and destruction, and turns to Eastern spirituality and ideology to make sense of the new, post-war world.

Further Literary Resources

"Jemima Hardy: The Great Author’s Mother" by Tracy Hayes (2012)

Hardy’s mother Jemima has often been described as instrumental in Hardy’s success and a guiding light in his earlier life. This brief article by Hayes of the Thomas Hardy Society gives great insight about Hardy’s headstrong and formidable mother. From her impoverished childhood to her insistence on an insular, closed family circle, a look into this powerful woman reveals the impact of her life and death on Hardy’s writing. Hardy never fully recovered after her death in 1904. Written just after her death, Hardy’s poem entitled “After the Last Breath” is an ode to his mother.

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Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (1891)

Hardy’s most famous novel, initially censored due to graphic content, follows a young woman named Tess who comes from less-than-ideal circumstances. After multiple run-ins with bad luck and amoral characters, Tess finds herself in a terrible situation. Although deeply sad, the novel makes an important statement about sexual violence and the harmful stigma surrounding this violence against women at the time. Hardy was actively challenging the double standards set for women during the period and was a pioneer in his advocacy against violence toward women. Much like “Channel Firing,” Tess grapples with fate and destiny and the tragic nature of so many human lives.

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Thomas Hardy by Claire Tomalin (2007)

Respected British Biographer Claire Tomalin dismisses many unsubstantiated claims from other Hardy scholars in her detail-oriented, fact-driven biography that follows Hardy’s life. From the writer’s humble provincial origins to his prolific and successful writing career, Tomalin’s work is an excellent companion to any Hardy scholar’s research. Much of the biography is concerned with Hardy’s long and troubled marriage to Emma Gifford, a union of which Hardy’s mother deeply disapproved. Tomalin pays great homage to Hardy’s deeply sonorous poetry that centers on Gifford’s death and presents an artful picture of Hardy’s interpersonal life accompanied by shrewd analyses of his work along the way.