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Hi everybody

I want a critical analysis of Thomas Hardy's The Milkmaid and contextualize it within Hardy's work and Victorian time.

In the poem "The Milkmaid", Thomas Hardy uses unromantic diction to show the realism of country life. He describes the "cotton-hooded milkmaid" in her rude, real clothes. He speaks of the "flowery river-ooze" that appears as the milk falls into the bucket. His language is direct, almost ugly. This is important because it shows the shift from Victorian literature, where high society is of utmost importance, to Edwardian and Modern literature, where everyday people become the inspiration for novels and poems. Hardy was ahead of his time with his subject matter.