Red Classics Poems of Thomas Hardy

by Thomas Hardy

A new selection of Hardy's love poems. Thomas Hardy is one of the sacred figures in English writing, a novelist with a world reputation, but above all a great poet.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, School

156 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 22, 1979

About the author

Thomas 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.

Reviews

[Nataša]

Zaključak: ne čitati poeziju kad joj vreme nije. Još jedan zaključak: ne čitati poeziju ovog jezičkog vratoloma u prevodu.
Zadatak: upustiti se u čitanje u originalu.
Izdvajam To an Unborn Pauper Child.

[Gavin Lightfoot · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of Hardy's poems especially those written after the death of his estranged wife, Emma, and the war poem 'In Time of "The Breaking of Nations"', is the poem that started my love of poetry.

[Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some poems, especially those of Hardy's late wife, were sad and made me sad. My top two favourites are Weathers and Shut out that moon.

[Sayde Scarlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is a delight.

Hardy is such a secret romantic. I loved all of this superlatively curated collection!

[Taylor Rodgers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just obsessed with Thomas Hardy. Lots of sad poems about his first wife Emma which broke my heart a little.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another late review… poor Hardy wanted to be a poet and just like the rest of us was redirected in pursuit of capital. Don’t tell him that he is a much better novelist than he is a poet.

[beau · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time reading Hardy. Got it as a birthday present and then kept it until I moved to Paris a few months later. All I can say really is smashing set of poems, and my friends do truly love me.

[Luzie Orant · Rating 4 out of 5]

The conformers🤌🏽🤌🏽

[Harry Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's very little quite as touching, sincere, and honest as Hardy's poetry.

A man, to quote Alan Bennett, who lived "a saddish life, but not all unappreciated", he saw the world with a brotherly love and affection, and with it the true horror of war beyond the pain and destruction: the abject pointlessness of it all. A sentimental man, he allows us access to that simple and sentimental part of ourselves, which makes him one of the most amazing poets I've ever read.

I can't, in honesty, place him with the Donne and Shakespeare, in that "eternal realm", but I can say I believe him to be a genius in the simple, normal and ultimately tragic.

Wessex Heights, Drummer Hodge and The Broken Appointment are some of most heartfelt and wonderful pieces of literature I've ever seen.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously you can find Hardy's poems in many places, but this book is nicely printed with good quality pages and a decent layout. I love that the collection starts with "Neutral Tones," the best bitter post-love poem I have ever read. Also includes "The Darkling Thrush," an apprehensive poem about the turning of the century, and the classic "Convergence of the Twain," about the Titanic. I've come to prefer Hardy's poems over his books because poems force him to confine his dark musings to a few lines, and his economic use of words packs more of an emotional punch.

[Elly · Rating 4 out of 5]

man, oh man, thomas hardy... his poetry is so so beautiful and i love his depictions of nature and death and spirits and war. a couple of my favourites include 'drummer hodge', 'afterwards', and any of the emma poems, really. granted, there are a couple i dislike (i'm looking at you, 'lizzie browne') but you win some, you lose some, i guess.

[Jen from Quebec :0) · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite authors. Period.

[Meggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Beeny Cliff" (March 1870 - March 1913) is a keeper.