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Thomas Hardy 's Under The Waterfall

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Thomas Hardy’s “Under the Waterfall” is a poem that can be interpreted in many different ways. One cannot deny the power and influence nature has over the two lovers. The reader can understand that a voice is evoked by a memory of having a picnic in August near a waterfall with their romantic partner every time he or she places their hands into a pool of water or 'basin of water '. One says “he or she” because the poem does not specifically tell the reader if it is the woman or man speaking. Hardy discusses the purity, serenity and permanence of the waterfall. Hardy establishes the first lines: Whenever I plunge my arm, like this, In a basin of water, I never miss The sweet, sharp sense of a fugitive day Fetched back from its thickening shroud of gray. (1-4) Already, one can gather a woman in hindsight of a moment is telling the poem in time. From this, it brings to light straight away that she is talking about something from the past that cannot be regained or repeated. In essence, the 'fugitive ' day has escaped. Hardy also uses an oxymoron here with 'sweet sharp ' to describe the day making clear that it was a nice delicate memory but is also a spiteful memory (3). The word 'fugitive ' means criminal, which suggests that this memory of lovers was possibly against the law or was an affair where the couple was rebellious (3). This supports the reason why one of the couple remembers the memory vividly: from remembering
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