Ah Are You Digging on My Grave- Thomas Hardy

Ah Are You digging on My Grave

By: Thomas Hardy

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!"
--"0 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 on me
That one true heart was left behind!
What feeling do we ever find
To equal among humankind
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."

I read this poem in my english 102 class. I loved the humor in this poem. However it is also kind of messed up. The person who past is wondering who is digging on her grave. She asks if it was her loved one, her nearest kin, or her enemy. It winds up being her dog. The sad part is none of the people came to visit her, and when someone did it was the dog. The dog didn't even go there for her, the dog went for his bone. So yes it is funny that it was the dog, but it is also sad that no one cares about this woman.