Would you agree with the statement: "Death is a common theme in Hardy's poetry"?

I must admit, I would want to widen the statement to refer
generally to Hardy's sense of pessimism in his poetry. Death of course is just one
aspect that he touches upon, but you will also want to pay attention to and analyse his
preoccupation with the passing of time, the loss of loved ones, failed hopes and the
decline of religious faith. Certainly the passage of time is a central theme in Hardy's
poetry. At times it is as if he believed it was the fount of all unhappiness. Linked
with this of course is his view of nature as being utterly indifferent to the short
lives of human beings. Hardy's personal philosophy of life was that he considered
humanity to be utterly swamped by the forces of the universe, which resulted in deep
feelings of alienation and struggles with his own personal
significance.

Thus we can see that so many of his poems,
such as "At Castle Boterel" and "During Wind and Rain" feature a massive conflict as the
speaker struggles against the sense of meaninglessness of space and time, and attempts
to reassert what is essentially human against the forces of the universe. Likewise we
can thus see the importance of acts of memory, where the speaker attempts to reclaim the
past. And yet those poems that do try to do so, like "The Voice" and "At Castle
Boterel," end in inevitable failure and a return to the pessimistic tone that
dominates.

Therefore, whilst death is definitely a focus of
Hardy's poetry, I think you would find it more fruitful to examine his pessimism as a
whole, of which the theme of death is one undeniable part.