Ferment (1863-1870)
Shall not endure;
I'll seek the pure
Thought-world, and bask in her allure.
Scanned with keen care
The temple where
She'd shone, but could not find her there.
Has not since thrown
Upon my own
One beam! Yea, she is gone, is gone.
The romantic idealism herein reflected proved to be more than a fleeting fancy, to be toyed with and cast aside. Hardy later confessed that this train of thought haunted him for years, and supplied the motif for his last completed novel, The Well-Beloved.
To add color and passion to the youth's imagination came his first really important and lasting personal relationship. He met Miss Emma Lavinia Gifford, a proud, strong-willed, mentally resourceful girl, the daughter of T. Attersall Gifford and the niece of Dr. Edwin Gifford, a London archdeacon. He threw himself at this rather disdainful lady's feet, extracted half-promises from her, and under the stress of his emotion poured out a succession of memorable love-lyrics and tragic verses.
The Ditty to Miss Gifford (1870) has already been mentioned in connection with Barnes's Maid o' Newton, which may well have provided its formal inspiration. Its graceful lyric measure and its refrain produce an
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