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Poems Of The Past And The Present
1901 collection of poems, by the English novelist, short story writer, and poet who was awarded the Order of Merit in 1910.
186 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1901
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240 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Hardy
2,354 books6,793 followersThomas Hardy, OM, was an English author of the naturalist movement, although in several poems he displays elements of the previous romantic and enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural. He regarded himself primarily as a poet and composed novels mainly for financial gain.
The bulk of his work, set mainly in the semi-fictional land of Wessex, delineates characters struggling against their passions and circumstances. Hardy's poetry, first published in his 50s, has come to be as well regarded as his novels, especially after The Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
The term cliffhanger is considered to have originated with Thomas Hardy's serial novel A Pair of Blue Eyes in 1873. In the novel, Hardy chose to leave one of his protagonists, Knight, literally hanging off a cliff staring into the stony eyes of a trilobite embedded in the rock that has been dead for millions of years. This became the archetypal — and literal — cliff-hanger of Victorian prose.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
The bulk of his work, set mainly in the semi-fictional land of Wessex, delineates characters struggling against their passions and circumstances. Hardy's poetry, first published in his 50s, has come to be as well regarded as his novels, especially after The Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
The term cliffhanger is considered to have originated with Thomas Hardy's serial novel A Pair of Blue Eyes in 1873. In the novel, Hardy chose to leave one of his protagonists, Knight, literally hanging off a cliff staring into the stony eyes of a trilobite embedded in the rock that has been dead for millions of years. This became the archetypal — and literal — cliff-hanger of Victorian prose.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 24, 2022
This volume contains a total of ninety-nine poems.
A number of these poems were idealistic in nature while there were a few relating to the ‘Boer War’ which was then going on.
Moreover, there are a few personal and autobiographical poems which beat the most heartrending notes.
Some of the better-known poems from this collection are:
(1) Embarcation
(2) Departure
(3) The Colonel’s Soliloquy
(4) Drummer Ilodge
(5) Shelley’s Skylark
(6) Lausanne. In Gibbon’s Old Garden
(7) To an Unborn Pauper Child
(8) To Lizbie Browne
(9) A Broken Appointment
(10) The Darkling Thrush
(11) In Tenebris I; In Tenebris II; In Tenebris III
(12) Tess’s Lament
The outstanding notes of Hardy’s thought have been struck in this volume of poems. Those major notes are: a) the defenselessness of man, b) the inevitability of destiny, and c) the heedlessness of the gods.
However, Hardy also saw some good in human life. The very fact that men and women, who are the play things of Fate, can be forthcoming to each other shows that Hardy is not sightless to the superior aspects in human nature.
This aspect of Hardy’s philosophy was predominantly to be found in the poem addressed to an unborn pauper child, in which he expresses his genuine compassion for the inopportune child.
Another poem of the same kind is ‘The Bedridden Peasant to an Unknowing Godo. It is only an especially gorgeous, an exceedingly Christian, type of agnosticism which can effect such a poem.
It was left to Hardy, among others, to construct a new gospel of compassion or a spiritualized service of man.
This volume also contains several extraordinary ironical lyrics of love. One of them is a sweetly affectionate lament entitled To Lizbie Browne; and another is an inquisitively chilling ballad entitled ‘The Dame Of Athelhall’.
A number of these poems were idealistic in nature while there were a few relating to the ‘Boer War’ which was then going on.
Moreover, there are a few personal and autobiographical poems which beat the most heartrending notes.
Some of the better-known poems from this collection are:
(1) Embarcation
(2) Departure
(3) The Colonel’s Soliloquy
(4) Drummer Ilodge
(5) Shelley’s Skylark
(6) Lausanne. In Gibbon’s Old Garden
(7) To an Unborn Pauper Child
(8) To Lizbie Browne
(9) A Broken Appointment
(10) The Darkling Thrush
(11) In Tenebris I; In Tenebris II; In Tenebris III
(12) Tess’s Lament
The outstanding notes of Hardy’s thought have been struck in this volume of poems. Those major notes are: a) the defenselessness of man, b) the inevitability of destiny, and c) the heedlessness of the gods.
However, Hardy also saw some good in human life. The very fact that men and women, who are the play things of Fate, can be forthcoming to each other shows that Hardy is not sightless to the superior aspects in human nature.
This aspect of Hardy’s philosophy was predominantly to be found in the poem addressed to an unborn pauper child, in which he expresses his genuine compassion for the inopportune child.
Another poem of the same kind is ‘The Bedridden Peasant to an Unknowing Godo. It is only an especially gorgeous, an exceedingly Christian, type of agnosticism which can effect such a poem.
It was left to Hardy, among others, to construct a new gospel of compassion or a spiritualized service of man.
This volume also contains several extraordinary ironical lyrics of love. One of them is a sweetly affectionate lament entitled To Lizbie Browne; and another is an inquisitively chilling ballad entitled ‘The Dame Of Athelhall’.
February 27, 2017
There is no doubt that Hardy is a brilliant writer, but the quality of this poetry was rather spotty. Sometimes it flows with ease and beauty, but more often it is a difficult slog.
The initial poems refer to war (I'm assuming the Boer War since they were written in 1899) and are rightfully gloomy. I loved the cadence of "The Going of the Battery Wives' Lament," and the humor in "The Levelled Churchyard." But the themes of most of the poetry are depressing (unfaithful spouses and lovers, unrequited love, ruined women, a man who hangs himself in a church, etc.) "The Sick God" describes God as a bloodthirsty warmonger, and champions modern man for being wiser than He for wanting peace.
I am NOT a fan of fluffy, sickeningly sweet poetry, but Hardy goes to the other extreme. It was a relief to finally finish this book of poems.
The initial poems refer to war (I'm assuming the Boer War since they were written in 1899) and are rightfully gloomy. I loved the cadence of "The Going of the Battery Wives' Lament," and the humor in "The Levelled Churchyard." But the themes of most of the poetry are depressing (unfaithful spouses and lovers, unrequited love, ruined women, a man who hangs himself in a church, etc.) "The Sick God" describes God as a bloodthirsty warmonger, and champions modern man for being wiser than He for wanting peace.
I am NOT a fan of fluffy, sickeningly sweet poetry, but Hardy goes to the other extreme. It was a relief to finally finish this book of poems.
October 22, 2025
The Darkling Thrush
BY THOMAS HARDY
I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
The land's sharp features seemed to be
The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.
At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.
BY THOMAS HARDY
I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
The land's sharp features seemed to be
The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.
At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.
May 31, 2022
3.5 stars - fave poem: mute opinion
August 10, 2022
I don’t peruse poetry much. I opted to download this collection, since it was the only freebie in an emailed advertisement of an ebook sale, to fill in my library summer reading bingo square for “read a book from a genre you don’t usually read”.
(I know - I likely could have gotten another (e-)book of poetry for free from the local library … but this saves me the searching and deciding.)
I’m glad I was led to this collection. I was impressed by his musings on aspects of things I could so easily observe but about which I would not give a second thought, let alone ruminate. I enjoyed his word choice - learned and evocative without being flowery or excessive or seeming pompous and snobby.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up understanding. The verses were thought-provoking … Some made me consider a heretofore unrealized perspective … e.g., the point of view of a structure speaking to the current of a string of occupants or visitors.
(I know - I likely could have gotten another (e-)book of poetry for free from the local library … but this saves me the searching and deciding.)
I’m glad I was led to this collection. I was impressed by his musings on aspects of things I could so easily observe but about which I would not give a second thought, let alone ruminate. I enjoyed his word choice - learned and evocative without being flowery or excessive or seeming pompous and snobby.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up understanding. The verses were thought-provoking … Some made me consider a heretofore unrealized perspective … e.g., the point of view of a structure speaking to the current of a string of occupants or visitors.
August 19, 2022
There are 98 poems in this collection! Compare that with the slim volumes published nowadays.; Larkin's 'High Windows', for example, has 24 poems. Whereas Larkin is incapable of publishing a bad poem, Hardy's prodigious output is variable, ranging from the superb ('The Darkling Thrush') to the mediocre ('The Bullfinches'). There are many treasures in this volume, so it is well worth combing through the dross for nuggets of gold. A writer should be judged by his best work, and out of the 98 poems here there are more than 20 which I consider excellent.
January 27, 2024
While there were several outstanding poems here - the poetry about the Boer War and the effects on serving soldiers and their families springs to mind - there are a lot of poems that just don’t quite pass muster here. Largely due to similarity of theme (there’s a lot of death and tragedy in this collection) but mostly due to finding a chunk of them difficult to read: I’m not classically trained but I can handle a meter and it was a bit of a chore getting a couple to scan. I’m not sure if it was me or Hardy (very likely me because Hardy forgot more about poetry than I have ever learned), but it did stop me enjoying a couple of them properly.
October 13, 2022
As much as I've enjoyed Hardy's novels, I did not for the most part enjoy the poems in this volume.
While I can certainly appreciate Hardy's ability and artistry, only a handful of poems (Drummer Hodge for one) appealed to me. I found the strongest poems to be in the first section which dealt primarily with war and the consequences thereof.
By and large the rest of the poems, while beautifully crafted, were wholly uninteresting. Possibly an annotated edition might have helped, but I doubt it.
While I can certainly appreciate Hardy's ability and artistry, only a handful of poems (Drummer Hodge for one) appealed to me. I found the strongest poems to be in the first section which dealt primarily with war and the consequences thereof.
By and large the rest of the poems, while beautifully crafted, were wholly uninteresting. Possibly an annotated edition might have helped, but I doubt it.
September 3, 2022
Enjoying Hardy's poetry. He can be little gloomy at times. For a good review read Chattopadhyay's on Goodreads.
I have actually been reading from his complete works and marking the poetry I like for a personal selected collection.
I have actually been reading from his complete works and marking the poetry I like for a personal selected collection.
March 19, 2021
Some of these are quite good.
October 21, 2011
I've enjoyed reading Hardy's novels since I was first introduced to them in high-school, but this is my first look at his poetry. I confess I have no idea how to review a book of poetry so I guess I'll just write what I was thinking as I read.
The overall mood of the book is sad disillusionment, the same feeling that comes through his novels, only more focused because in poetry so much is said in so few words. I expected his poems to be melancholy but this is more than that I think. This is despair, and it never ends. It seeps into every verse, every line. In "I Said To Love" he says:
"We now know more of thee than then;
We were but weak in judgement when,
With hearts abrim,
We clamored thee that thou woulds't please
Inflict on us thine agonies."
It's clear that he has been hurt. You can't read his novels without seeing how disillusioned he is about love but this verse sounds almost bitter. When I was younger I used to think that life must have treated him very harshly, but now I don't expect his life was harder than other people's, I just think that as a poet he is more free, and better able, to express his emotions.
There's a poem in this collection called "A Commonplace Day" that I like a lot. He writes about the day passing without having accomplished anything, an experience common to us all but most of us could never put it into words with so much feeling. I find myself drawn into his disappointment when he says:
"Nothing of tiniest worth, Have I wrought, pondered , planned".
In another poem titled simply "To Life" Hardy sounds so tired of the suffering and darkness of life that he asks why life can't, just for one day, pretend that it's good and happy. Where most of us might sigh with a moment's passing regret, he picks up a pen and turns his regret into art
"But cans't thou not array
Thyself in rare disguise,
And feign like truth, for one mad day
That Earth is paradise?"
Some (most) of these poems are heart-wrenching to read, full of pain, but honest, his heart laid open for all the world to see. There's one called "God Forgotten" and another "The Bedridden Peasant to An Unknowing God" in which he questions if God ever hears him or if He's forgotten about Thomas Hardy, and, indeed, the whole human race. He believes in God's existence and that He is good, but he feels abandoned. Who can't relate to that from time to time?
There is also, though, a certain amount of cautious hope in what he writes. In "To An Unknown Pauper Child" he advises the baby to stop breathing and not be born into such a mournful life, but at the end he faces the fact that neither he nor the child can do anything to change what will be and he says;
"I can hope
Health, love, friends, scope
In full for thee; dream thou'll find
Joys seldom yet attained by humankind.".
The last one I'll mention is called "The Superseded". I love this one because it touches a sore spot in all of us. He writes about how people drop into the background of life as they age, making room for younger, fresher lives in the forefront. We all understand this process is a normal, healthy part of aging and we have no trouble accepting it for others, but each one of us is a little hurt and surprised when it actually happens to "me".
"Tis not that we have unforetold
The drop behind;
We feel the new must
Oust the old
In every kind;
But yet we think
Must we, must we
Too drop behind?"
This collection might be a bit too melancholy for some, but I enjoyed most of it. I don't mind the sadness because it speaks of real life, and real life is sad. I love the simplicity, the honesty, the beauty of his words and after my first attempt at reading his poetry I remain a staunch Hardy fan.
The overall mood of the book is sad disillusionment, the same feeling that comes through his novels, only more focused because in poetry so much is said in so few words. I expected his poems to be melancholy but this is more than that I think. This is despair, and it never ends. It seeps into every verse, every line. In "I Said To Love" he says:
"We now know more of thee than then;
We were but weak in judgement when,
With hearts abrim,
We clamored thee that thou woulds't please
Inflict on us thine agonies."
It's clear that he has been hurt. You can't read his novels without seeing how disillusioned he is about love but this verse sounds almost bitter. When I was younger I used to think that life must have treated him very harshly, but now I don't expect his life was harder than other people's, I just think that as a poet he is more free, and better able, to express his emotions.
There's a poem in this collection called "A Commonplace Day" that I like a lot. He writes about the day passing without having accomplished anything, an experience common to us all but most of us could never put it into words with so much feeling. I find myself drawn into his disappointment when he says:
"Nothing of tiniest worth, Have I wrought, pondered , planned".
In another poem titled simply "To Life" Hardy sounds so tired of the suffering and darkness of life that he asks why life can't, just for one day, pretend that it's good and happy. Where most of us might sigh with a moment's passing regret, he picks up a pen and turns his regret into art
"But cans't thou not array
Thyself in rare disguise,
And feign like truth, for one mad day
That Earth is paradise?"
Some (most) of these poems are heart-wrenching to read, full of pain, but honest, his heart laid open for all the world to see. There's one called "God Forgotten" and another "The Bedridden Peasant to An Unknowing God" in which he questions if God ever hears him or if He's forgotten about Thomas Hardy, and, indeed, the whole human race. He believes in God's existence and that He is good, but he feels abandoned. Who can't relate to that from time to time?
There is also, though, a certain amount of cautious hope in what he writes. In "To An Unknown Pauper Child" he advises the baby to stop breathing and not be born into such a mournful life, but at the end he faces the fact that neither he nor the child can do anything to change what will be and he says;
"I can hope
Health, love, friends, scope
In full for thee; dream thou'll find
Joys seldom yet attained by humankind.".
The last one I'll mention is called "The Superseded". I love this one because it touches a sore spot in all of us. He writes about how people drop into the background of life as they age, making room for younger, fresher lives in the forefront. We all understand this process is a normal, healthy part of aging and we have no trouble accepting it for others, but each one of us is a little hurt and surprised when it actually happens to "me".
"Tis not that we have unforetold
The drop behind;
We feel the new must
Oust the old
In every kind;
But yet we think
Must we, must we
Too drop behind?"
This collection might be a bit too melancholy for some, but I enjoyed most of it. I don't mind the sadness because it speaks of real life, and real life is sad. I love the simplicity, the honesty, the beauty of his words and after my first attempt at reading his poetry I remain a staunch Hardy fan.
May 14, 2023
Lots of references to war and past writers
June 9, 2012
Thomas Hardy is an English classic in poetry and surely there were some lovely poems in this book but I had real trouble to get to grips with the old-fashioned English.
His themes of love, death, war and spirituality are and will always be up to date. His use of imagery and rhythm is beautiful but the old-fashioned language did not really speak to me. Still I am glad to have read it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thomas Hardy ist ein englischer Klassiker in Lyrik und in diesem Buch gab es sicherlich einige schoene Gedichte aber ich hatte grosse Schwierigkeiten mit der altmodischen englischen Sprache.
Seine Themen Liebe, Tod, Krieg und Spiritualitaet sind und werden immer aktuell sein. So wie er Bilder und Rhytmus nutzt ist wunderschoen aber die altmodische Sprache hat nicht wirklich zu mir gesprochen. Ich bin trotzdem froh, es gelesen zu haben.
His themes of love, death, war and spirituality are and will always be up to date. His use of imagery and rhythm is beautiful but the old-fashioned language did not really speak to me. Still I am glad to have read it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thomas Hardy ist ein englischer Klassiker in Lyrik und in diesem Buch gab es sicherlich einige schoene Gedichte aber ich hatte grosse Schwierigkeiten mit der altmodischen englischen Sprache.
Seine Themen Liebe, Tod, Krieg und Spiritualitaet sind und werden immer aktuell sein. So wie er Bilder und Rhytmus nutzt ist wunderschoen aber die altmodische Sprache hat nicht wirklich zu mir gesprochen. Ich bin trotzdem froh, es gelesen zu haben.
July 4, 2013
I took me over six months to finish this collection, mostly due to my slow book reader, but it was well worth the epic journey. I loved the classic form, the rhymes and the language. The whole collection has a melancholy feel and some of the poems are depressing, but they still work. I will buy a hardcopy of the collection so that I can reread some of my favorites. I will try out his prose now.
February 15, 2016
Honestly is too hard to rate on a five stars scale. Wessex Poems should be 3,5 and Poems of the Past and the Present 3, but i can't so i rate 3 the first and 2 this. Is still a great collection of poems and i loved it.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews