"The Voice"

I absolutely love "The Voice"  Hardy just has a way of making the reader feel the sadness and pain that the man feels as his story unfolds through out the poem.  the first line "Women much missed, how you call to me, call to me." I feel is so relatable to anyone who has lost somone so special.  When someone first experiences the loss of somone they can find themselves listening for and hearing the sweet voice they once heard everday of their lives.  The first line in the second stanza is also one that stands out as the man begs the voice to not only speak but to appear as the woman he so longs to see.  The woman he once knew to wait upon his return to town but as it is said within the third stanza reality sets in and the man begins to question whether it truly is the voice of the beloved women "Or is it only the breeze."  As one listens for that special voice reality eventually begins to set in and one must realize that it is the longing to hear the voice that they hear and that they will not appear. The last and final line of the poem ends saying "And the woman calling."  I believe this to be the line of hope for the man and for the reader.  Though one must come to accept the loss of a loved one they can always carry the voice with them in their heart.