Understanding ideas of war in Hardy’s ‘Drummer Hodge’

‘Drummer Hodge’ depicts a soldier’s unceremonial burial in a foreign country. Hardy was referencing the events of the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Potentially, we might read ‘Drummer Hodge’ as a criticism of sending young men away to die in war. We might interpret Hardy as suggesting that Hodge is now a part of the foreign land. Specifically, we might see Hardy as criticising the Boer War and colonialism through ‘Drummer Hodge’.