Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1913

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Related Poems

“When I Am Dead, My Dearest” by Christina Rossetti (1862)

Rossetti’s 1862 poem is an interesting companion piece to Hardy’s for two reasons. First, it offers an example of the fascination death held for Victorian poets. Second, the speaker in Rossetti’s poem takes the opposite point of view from Hardy’s deceased speaker: Rossetti’s speaker does not care whether her loved ones will remember and mourn her, as she describes death as total oblivion.

“In Memoriam” by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1850)

In this lengthy poetry cycle written in memory of a deceased friend, Lord Tennyson explores death and grief from various angles, examining the emotional devastation of grief and the religious promises of a life in the hereafter. This cycle is a rich and illustrative example of Victorian attitudes towards death by one of the era’s most famous and influential poets.

“The Voice” by Thomas Hardy (1912)

While “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” depicts the deceased speaker as someone easily forgotten by those she once loved, “The Voice”—written just a year prior—reveals a more emotionally weighty and conflicted attitude towards death and memory. Hardy wrote the poem in response to the death of his wife Emma; the poem explores his grief and his uncertainty as to whether the “woman much missed” can still somehow speak to him from beyond the grave.

Further Literary Resources

“Thomas Hardy: 1840-1928” by the Poetry Foundation

The page dedicated to Hardy’s life and work features an accessible and helpful biographical overview and links to the full texts of some of his most famous poems, including “Rain on a Grave” and “The Haunter.”

Official Website: The Thomas Hardy Society by the Thomas Hardy Society

Founded in 1968 in Hardy’s native region of Dorset, England, the Thomas Hardy Society is dedicated to promoting and celebrating Hardy’s life and work. The society’s website features articles, biographical information, poetry analysis, and the latest news and events associated with the Society and its work.

“An Introduction to the Victorian Era” by the Poetry Foundation

A useful general introduction to the Victorian Era by the Poetry Foundation, featuring a curated list of some of the major poets and works of the era with direct links to the full texts. This page is an excellent starting point for readers exploring the work of Hardy’s contemporaries and developing a broader understanding of the literary culture that was dominant for much of Hardy’s lifetime.

Listen to Poem

Tom O’Bedlam reads “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?”

A clear and well-paced reading of Hardy’s poem, featuring the words of the poem on-screen to help the reader follow along. While the reading is somewhat lacking in emotional variation, the world-weariness of the reader’s delivery does do justice to the poem’s thematic preoccupations with the mundanity of death and the general indifference of the speaker’s loved ones.