Thomas Hardy’s poem, “Rain on a Grave,” centers on the grave of a loved one. His thoughts filled with grief over the passing of his wife, Hardy stuffs the page with a plethora of emotion. At the same time, his poem maintains a ubiquitous theme of nature throughout. Consequently, Thomas Hardy's "Rain on a Grave" is a poem marked by a multifaceted writing strategy, invoking the characteristics of nature in order to memorialize his wife in many different fashions.

In “Rain on a Grave,” the first two stanzas of the poem utilize nature in a practically uniform manner. Right from the onset, Hardy exhibits the profound role it will play, describing how clouds travel over his wife’s grave, “their waters amain / In ruthless disdain” (2-3). In effect, Hardy portrays Mother Nature as ominous and menacing, with true contempt for his spouse. He uses the verb spout to explain the style in which the cloud precipitates upon her grave, connoting a pressure and intensity that further characterizes the rain as an overwhelmingly imposing presence. This troubles Hardy, as he subsequently depicts his wife as a very delicate creature, easily bothered by rainfall of any kind. Hardy likens the drops of rain to arrows as well. With each one pointed and threatening, Hardy can no longer prevent her from stranding herself outside in her grave, vulnerable to every single weapon nature is throwing her way. Moreover, Hardy typifies Mother Nature in the same context on another occasion, reiterating that his wife would hasten to shelter “When thunder-clouds thicken / And birds close their bills” (17-18). He introduces thunder in this instance, allowing the booming sound effect to become yet another instrument in representing nature as an oppressive force on his once living, fragile wife. The closing of the birds’ bills could, perhaps, signal the dreary stillness and silence right before the start of a formidable storm. The fact that the birds refuse to sing a soothing hymn speaks volumes, cementing the opposition of Mother Nature and Hardy’s wife at the end of the second stanza. As a result, because of his experiences watching her deal with rain, he can hardly bear to view her in her grave, drenched by it.

In fact, Hardy is so moved by this melancholy image that he employs many new methods to convey his raging emotions. He transitions from third-person to the first, proclaiming that he would happily trade places with his deceased wife. Better yet, he wishes that the two would be buried together, he says,

Exposed to one weather

We both, -- who would stray there

When sunny the day there,

Or evening was clear (23-27).

In the first two stanzas, Hardy exposes his audience to one weather, rain. However here, the shift to a sunny day shows the yearning Hardy possesses to see and interact with his wife, even in the sense of sharing a grave. The couple would “stray” there, perceivably the grave, Hardy writes, giving the impression that the two, together, would spiritually drift and wander back to their graves when the weather was clear and beautiful. Conversely, if precipitation was in the forecast, Hardy implies that the couple could elect to essentially and effectively leave “there,” saving them, and more specifically his wife, the trouble of getting pelted by Mother Nature’s arrows. Thus, the fact that the weather represents the most important detail when Hardy pleads to be reunited with his beloved stresses just how much he utilizes nature as a device to deal with his wife’s death. Furthermore, Hardy’s use of nature subsequently evolves yet again as the poem reaches its conclusion. He pens that, in the very near future, green blades will be growing “from her mound” (29) and immediately follows this up with

And daisies be showing

Like stars on the ground,

Till she form part of them –

Ay – the sweet heart of them (30-33).

Hardy fills his simile concerning two different elements of nature with emotion and personal meaning. Though right before that, he writes that the grass will grow from her mound, which implies that she, herself, is the source of the growing, beautiful vegetation. A pleasant sight regardless, daises thus represent something that Hardy’s wife had loved all her life and now has some sort of connection to, adding even more value. Likening the flowers to stars only reinforces this argument, as they present an additional vehicle in which to channel and show off her radiance. Hardy then quickly returns to the insinuation that his deceased wife will soon be a vital life source; only this time, he elects to take a more forthright approach regarding her body’s metamorphosis into becoming one with nature, flat out stating that she acts as part of the plants. She doesn’t become just any part however; she develops into the “sweet heart” of them. The separation of those two words lends the line to multiple potential meanings. For one, Hardy could merely intend for her to embody the beating heart of the flowers she so dearly loved. Yet more likely, Hardy’s use of the two words next to each other could be seen as a blatant effort to draw from the word sweetheart and all of its affectionate and endearing connotations. If this is the case, then line 33 also acts as a deliberate attempt by Hardy to communicate possible acceptance with his wife’s death. Thus, Hardy asserts that she is undoubtedly the sweetheart of the flowers, vegetation, and nature now, loved immensely for eternity. In essence, Hardy’s wife journeys from simply acting in a manner that resembles a delicate, little flower to literally becoming one, signaling the completion of her transformation into becoming nature.

“Rain on a Grave” consists of a multitude of sentiments. From anguish, to bargaining, to acceptance, Thomas Hardy’s writing exhibits it all. Consequently, in the same vein, Hardy’s poem presents Mother Nature, whether in the form of weather, animals, vegetation, or the stars, in a myriad of unique circumstances as well, all with the intention to grieve a loved one.