"Drummer Hodge" by Thomas Hardy is a poem that laments the horrors of war. It focuses particularly on the personal tragedy of a young innocent boy from Hardy's Wessex. However, this is effective because it makes the character gain more sympathy from us readers as we are able to recognize the tragedy of this individual to a greater extent. The first verse tells us that "Drummer Hodge" was thrown into a grave without a coffin. which shows the lack of recognition for his life and character. This portrays a feeling of sadness. Through this, readers are given a message about the cruel nature of war and death, as his corpse is treated without respect. Even the phrase "just found" makes clear the lack of importance of this character, since it is more suitable for describing a lost object. Hodge's reference point, which is written in a foreign language, serves as a form of irony, as he finds himself in a place far from home in a foreign land rather than in his English hometown of Wessex, where one would have expected whatever it was. The strangeness of this foreign land is made evident by "every night" falling over his grave. The second verse also places emphasis on the contrast between Hodge's location; in a foreign country and where he would have preferred to be buried. Unlike the first verse, it is further developed; giving a detailed explanation on the characteristics of this foreign land (which I discovered is a region in the southern part of Africa). This is done through clever sentence construction on Hardy's part. “From his home in Wessex: the meaning of the wide Karoo, The Bush, thedusty loam…” The way the sentence diverges from explaining Hodge's home town to this foreign land where he is buried conjures an image in the mind of readers and also serves as a form of contrast. From the first verse also follows Hodge's unawareness represented by the "strange stars and darkness". The final verse touches on an entirely different issue by making clear the sad fact that Hodge would never return to his homeland, as he has become part of this “unknown terrain.” “Yet the part of that unknown plain will be Hodge forever.” The use of explosives in the words "breast" and "brain" suggests a tone of anger at what has become of it