Channel Firing

Hardy’s “Channel Firing” maintains a pretty strict form and meter throughout the poem with only a few minor deviations. The poem contains nine stanzas of four lines, or quatrains, each line with eight syllables. Quatrains are often associated with ballads, and while the poem doesn’t adhere to the form of a ballad per se, it does mirror the form insofar as it is working to tell a story. The subtle nod to the ballad adds a satirical quality to the story the poem tells, as ballads typically tell stories of love or tragedy, and this poem describes a more whimsical tale of talking skeletons and an exasperated God. The predictable meter allows that story to be told clearly and concisely.

The consistency and organization simplify the reading experience, allowing readers to focus on the message of the poem, as opposed to getting lost in its language. The allegiance to the form creates a palpable rhythm, emulating a beating drum or marching soldiers. Just as the form repeats its own cycles, the poem details the way humanity repeats cycles of war and violence throughout the course of history.

The poem is not only consistent in its form, but it also maintains a very strict, end-rhymed ABAB rhyme scheme. The rhymes are full and the poem features no slant rhymes, which demonstrates Hardy’s mastery of language. Because the poem deals with such heavy topics, the true and playful rhymes in combination with the simplicity of the diction create a satirical tone. Although the poem discusses heavy topics that include of violence and death, it resists taking itself too seriously, as can be seen with rhymes like “year” (Line 30) and “beer” (Line 32), or “hatters” (Line 14) and “matters” (Line 16). The uniformity and simplistic syntax give the poem a nursery rhyme feel, juxtaposing the violent content with an almost child-like voice to set up the deep irony the narrator grapples with throughout the text.