Name:_______________________________ Period:_______
Title of Poem:_Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave_____________________________________________________________
Author: _______Thomas Hardy____________________________________________________________________
1. What is the dramatic situation of the poem? (What is taking place literally?)
Some one is digging on a woman’s grave and she is trying to figure out who.
2. Who is the speaker in the poem? (Or, at least, what do we know about him/her?)
The speaker is the woman who is dead. Also at the end her pet dog speaks.
3. To whom is he or she speaking? Who is the audience of the poem?
She seems to be speaking to her elf.
4. Where is the setting of the poem? Where is the speaker? When does it take place?
The setting of the poem is in a grave yard. The speaker is buried under ground in a casket. She is mostly talking to herself. She asks a question and then answers it. But at the end she starts talking to the dog who is digging on her grave and the dog replies.
5. What is a possible theme of the poem?
The theme is that after you die, people will begin to forget about you and move on with there lives.
6. Write one line from the poem that you think tells the theme or main conflict of the poem.
“Ah are you digging on my grave? My loved one ? Planting rue? No yesterday he went wed one of the brightest wealth has bred.”
7. Why does the speaker feel compelled to speak out?
To find out who is digging on her grave and why.
8. What kinds of patterns are there in the poem? Does the poem rhyme? Does it have a particular rhythm or beat? Does it have a visual pattern when you look at it?
The Poem has a repetition for most of it because it keeps repeating the same question over again. The Poem has rhyme scheme all through it. It does not have a rhythm or beat. It does have an visual pattern. Each stanza is about the same length and begins with the same line.

9. How does the poet use language? Is it elevated or fancier language? Is it more vernacular, colloquial, or casual? Does the poet use a particular dialect or accent?
The language is more elevated.
10. What do you think is the most important line of the poem? Why do you think so?
“Mistress, I dug a bone on your grave. To bury a bone, in case I should be hungry near this spot. When on my daily trot. I am sorry, but I quite forgot it was your resting place.”
The speaker thought people where digging on her grave because she might be missed or remembered. Whe in the end she still was forgotten.
11. What images does the poet use to make his or her point?
There really isn’t any imagery in the poem. But to make her point the dog speaks about how he forgot she was buried where he was trying to bury his bone.
12. What is the tone (mood) of the poem at the beginning, at the end, and overall?
The tone is Ironic because at the end. She thought she was remembered and people were digging on her grave because she was missed. But actually her grave was dig upon because her dog who forgotten her was trying to bury a bone.