Drummer Hodge by Thomas Hardy

They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest
Uncoffined -- just as found:
His landmark is a kopje-crest
That breaks the veldt around:
And foreign constellations west
Each night above his mound.

Young Hodge the drummer never knew --
Fresh from his Wessex home --
The meaning of the broad Karoo,
The Bush, the dusty loam,
And why uprose to nightly view
Strange stars amid the gloam.

Yet portion of that unknown plain
Will Hodge for ever be;
His homely Northern breast and brain
Grow to some Southern tree,
And strange-eyed constellations reign
His stars eternally.

My reason for posting this poem today is a little odd. It is not actually a favourite poem of mine – it’s OK but not completely my cup of tea. But it is in my mind today because last night I watched ‘History Boys’ on DVD and this poem was recited in it.

‘History Boys’ was written by Alan Bennet and directed by Nicholas Hytner and, to be honest, I wasn’t crazy about it. Bennet is a terrific writer but I didn’t think this film was completely successful. It left me confused as to what it was actually trying to say and I found many of the characters hard to engage with. But some of the writing was (as you would expect) very good and some of the acting was very strong.

One scene in particular was exceptional. In it a teacher (played by Richard Griffiths) and a student discuss the above poem. As the teacher talks about the poem you get the sense that he is talking about his own difficult and spent life. I thought the acting was exceptional and the writing superb. I searched the internet to see if there was a clip of this scene I could post but there wasn’t. All I can do is post this poem and recommend that you watch the film for this one scene at least.

Here on blogger there are a couple of theme days going – Jacqui BB hosts a poetry day on Wednesdays on Creative Journey and Nicholas V always writes a superb movie review for his blog Intelliblog on Mondays. Check them out and feel free to get involved.