Robert, your mention of the Hardy is interesting.
For the last two years, using your edition, I have
set students a final exam essay on that very
poem. It would be difficult if not impossible
to describe what students claim to see in it--
and this after having read a hundred Hardy poems
in the weeks leading up to the exam. Many claim
not to have the slightest idea where "the voice"
is coming from. Sigh.
But your point about the meter is well-taken.
A haunting, haunting poem, with dactyls doing
no harm whatsoever.
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