--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: one of Mr. [Thomas] Hardy's ancestors…" description: "\"one of Mr. [Thomas] Hardy's ancestors must have married a weeping willow. There are pages and pages in his collected poems which are simply plain narra..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4e/rebecca-west-1248_ancestor_one-of-mr-thomas-hardy-s-ancestors-must_2959484.jpg" --- # one of Mr. \[Thomas\] Hardy's ancestors must have married a… ![“one of Mr. [Thomas] Hardy's ancestors must have married a weeping willow. There are pages and pages in his collected poems which are simply plain narratives in ballad form of how an unenjoyable time was had by all.” quote by Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4e/rebecca-west-1248_ancestor_one-of-mr-thomas-hardy-s-ancestors-must_2959484.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4e/rebecca-west-1248_ancestor_one-of-mr-thomas-hardy-s-ancestors-must_2959484.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4e/rebecca-west-1248_ancestor_one-of-mr-thomas-hardy-s-ancestors-must_2959484.jpg) > “one of Mr. \[Thomas\] Hardy's ancestors must have married a weeping willow. There are pages and pages in his collected poems which are simply plain narratives in ballad form of how an unenjoyable time was had by all.” [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She humorously links Hardy’s ancestry to a weeping willow, noting his poems often read like ballads about hardship. **In simple terms:** Hardy’s poems are plain ballads of hardship. Key Takeaway Recognize the melancholy in literary ancestry. Themes literature humor hardship Mood reflective wry Type literary analytical When to use this quote - reading classic poetry - studying literary influences Key Concepts ballad form ancestry poetic style Questions to Reflect On - What does the weeping willow symbolize? - How does humor affect perception of tragedy? A Different Perspective May simplify Hardy’s complex themes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancestor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestor/) [Ballads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballads/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardy/) [Hardy Ancestors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardy-ancestors-4500067/) [Married](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/married/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Narratives Ballad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narratives-ballad-4500066/) [Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thomas-hardy/) [Weeping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weeping/) [Weeping Willow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weeping-willow-753006/) [Weeping willows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weeping-willows/) [Willow Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willow-pages-4500068/) ## Related quotes > [Just as a dancer, turning and turning, may fill the dusty light with the soft swirl of her flying skirts, our weeping willow --…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/just-as-a-dancer-turning-and-turning-may-fill-the-dusty-light-with/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [“THE WEEPING WILLOW Flowing was the water showing in its mirror the willow trees. 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Is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/weeping-willow-with-your-tears-running-down-why-do-you-always-weep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“whatever stream their weeping willow is planted beside. Samuel Dickey Gordon When from my life the old-time joys have vanished,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lettie-b-cowman/whatever-stream-their-weeping-willow-is-planted-beside-samuel-dickey/) [Lettie B. 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I wonder if tissues are made out of their trunks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/weeping-willows-remind-me-of-summer-and-sadness-i-wonder-if-tissues/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) ## More by Rebecca West > [I see the main problem of my life, and indeed anybody's life, as the balancing of competitive freedoms ... a sense of mutual obligations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/i-see-the-main-problem-of-my-life-and-indeed-anybody-s-life-as-the/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“There is, of course, no reason for the existence of the male sex except that sometimes one needs help with moving the piano.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/there-is-of-course-no-reason-for-the-existence-of-the-male-sex-except/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“At the top of a hill our automobile stuck in a snowdrift. 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