I Look Into My Glass

I Look Into My Glass was written when Hardy was only 57 years old and
published in 1898. In this poem, Hardy revolves around the impact of time on
the human identity. The main theme is the contrast between his aging physical
body and his heart which is still young and vibrant. The tone of this poem is
thoughtful and there is a rather slow pace which is emphasized by the regular
rhyme scheme and numerous punctuations. Lets examine it part by part:
I look into my glass.
And view my wasting skin,
And say, Would God it came to pass
My heart had shrunk as thin!
In this first stanza Hardy is focusing on the contrast between his wasting skin
and his emotions. As he says, Would God it came to pass my heart had shrunk
as thin! he is wishing that his heart had shrunken as much as his body had. His
old body isnt physically strong enough to cope with his strong feelings. The
ABAB masculine rhymes sound strong on the tongue, creating a forceful flow to
the poem. This emphasizes how realistic his description of aging and loneliness
is.
For then, I, undistrest
By hearts grown cold to me,
Could lonely wait my endless rest
With equanimity.
In this second stanza Hardy is implying that if his heart had grown cold just like
his body had, he would be able to comfortably await his death. He doesnt want
to remember his past heart breaks as his body is too weak to handle all those
bad memories. There is an obvious link to loneliness in this stanza. The caesura
in the first line which isolates the I automatically draws your eye to its
separation from the rest of the words. It appears as though Hardy finds it easier
to isolate himself and lead a lonely life if it means that he doesnt have to deal
with anymore heartbreaks. Hardy had a love interest in a woman called Florence

Henniker, however his admiration wasnt reciprocated, and this caused him
much pain. These one way feelings are shown through the line By hearts grown
cold to me; as he implies that those he loved didnt always love him back. In
that line there is an assonance of the letter o in the words grown and cold
which then also appears in lonely, this emphasises the coldness and misery of
his situation.
But Time, to make me grieve,
part steals, lets part abide;
And shakes this fragile frame at eve
With throbbings of noontide.
The first two lines in the final stanza are split down the middle with the use of
commas. There is a perfect symmetry as the two lines mirror each other, this
emphasizes how there is a contrast between Times functions: Part steals, lets
part abide. Time is stealing Hardys body but letting his heart and emotions live
on. Time is personified to highlight its importance in this poem and how its
leading to Hardys grieving. The metaphor which controls this poem is the
contrast between eve and noontide. Eve represents the end of his life and
noontide represents his feelings of noon. Although Hardys old, he has the same
emotions as he did when he was young. However his body cant handle all this
emotion, so he isolates himself because hes struggling with his feelings. Hardy
uses throbbings to emphasize how his emotions are still alive, the double bs
leave us feeling his passion and yet his pain.