The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Hardy, Thomas. “Drummer Hodge” Poets.org, https://poets.org/poem/drummer-hodge.

Note that all parenthetical citations within the guide refer to the lines of the poem from which the quotations are taken.

Born in 1840, Thomas Hardy was and English writer. Hardy considered himself a poet, foremost, but is he is best known for his novels, which include Far from the Madding Crowd, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure. In his writing, Hardy is frequently critical of the Victorian social system, especially the rapid industrialism and modernization undergone by England during this time. Many of his works are tragic in tone, focusing on characters hailing from the countryside that struggle against social systems vastly beyond their control.

One aspect of modernity Hardy was particularly opposed to was the English war machine, the British Empire’s violent means of using its powerful military to exert colonial control over other land. Hardy was alive during both the Boer Wars and World War I, and he used his poetry to express his opposition to the violence. Hardy’s “Drummer Hodge” is a respectful eulogy lamenting the passing of the titular young soldier during the Second Boer War.