thomas hardy

country boy (as opposed to charles dickens’ london-centric novels)

proto-feminist

thomas hardy, born 1840 in higher bockhampton, dorset; died in 1928 at max gate in dorchester.

influenced by musicality of stonemason father and mother, jemima hand hardy.

architectural apprentice in london; drew inspiration from dorset for fiction and poetry.

identified with dorset, called novels the wessex novels, and provided a map of the area.

explored southern england's historical remains, including stonehenge, influencing his poetry.

deep interest in napoleonic wars; wrote epic drama "the dynasts" based on historical material.

hosted younger authors like yeats, sassoon, and woolf; discussed poetry with ezra pound.

war poems, including "drummer hodge," addressed horrors of boer war and world war i.

prolific career spanned victorian and modern eras; wrote novels, short stories, and poems.

abandoned fiction after negative reviews for "tess of the d’urbervilles" and "jude the obscure."

from 1898, focused on poetry; published eight volumes, including "the dynasts."

the dynasts considered a shooting-script, presenting hardy's idea of evolutionary meliorism.

hardy's lyric poetry, characterised by pervasive fatalism, is widely known and influential.

poems connected to his life events; emma's death marked a turning point in his poetry.

married florence dugdale after emma's death; explored themes of guilt and loss in his poetry.

hardy's poems, though often described as gloomy, highlight the musical aspects of language.

death in 1928; ashes in poets' corner, westminster abbey; heart interred in stinsford churchyard.