Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?

Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)



"Ah, are you digging on my grave,
            My loved one? -- planting rue?"
-- "No: yesterday he went to wed
One of the brightest wealth has bred.
'It cannot hurt her now,' he said,
            'That I should not be true.'"

"Then who is digging on my grave,
            My nearest dearest kin?"
-- "Ah, no: they sit and think, 'What use!
What good will planting flowers produce?
No tendance of her mound can loose
            Her spirit from Death's gin.'"

"But someone digs upon my grave?
            My enemy? -- prodding sly?"
-- "Nay: when she heard you had passed the Gate
That shuts on all flesh soon or late,
She thought you no more worth her hate,
            And cares not where you lie.

"Then, who is digging on my grave?
            Say -- since I have not guessed!"
-- "O it is I, my mistress dear,
Your little dog , who still lives near,
And much I hope my movements here
            Have not disturbed your rest?"

"Ah yes! You dig upon my grave...
            Why flashed it not to me
That one true heart was left behind!
What feeling do we ever find
To equal among human kind
            A dog's fidelity!"

"Mistress, I dug upon your grave
            To bury a bone, in case
I should be hungry near this spot
When passing on my daily trot.
I am sorry, but I quite forgot
            It was your resting place."

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

1:11 min read
1,063

Quick analysis:

Scheme abcccb Adeeed afgggf Ahiixh ajkkkj almmml
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,306
Words 245
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy, was not a Scottish Minister, not a Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland nor a Professor of Eccesiastical History at Edinburgh University. more…

All Thomas Hardy poems | Thomas Hardy Books

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1 Comment
  • hirendra.xaviers
    A wonderful poem singing the glory of a dog whose faithfulness is unquestionable. Men gather and disperse after their acts are priced. But a dog stays a comrade even after his master's death. Hail Hardy, hail your poems! 
    LikeReply1 year ago

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"Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/36323/ah,-are-you-digging-on-my-grave?>.

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