
The Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Hardy (Illustrated) (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Complete Poetical Works (Illustrated): Victorian realism and Romantic echoes from Wessex to warBy Thomas HardyLength21h 57m
About this audiobook
The Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Hardy (Illustrated) gathers the full range of Hardy's verse: elegies, dramatic monologues, war poems, philosophical lyrics, love poems, and meditations on memory, fate, and rural change. Written in a diction at once plainspoken and formally intricate, these poems stand at the threshold between Victorian moral seriousness and modernist disillusionment. The illustrated format enriches Hardy's landscapes—Wessex fields, churchyards, roads, and rooms—where personal grief and historical pressure become inseparable. Thomas Hardy, born in Dorset in 1840, trained as an architect before turning to fiction and, ultimately, to poetry, the art he considered his deepest vocation. His experiences of rural England, class constraint, religious doubt, and emotional loss shaped a poetic imagination preoccupied with time's irony and the fragility of human designs. After public controversy over his novels, Hardy devoted his later decades chiefly to verse, producing one of the most distinctive poetic bodies in English literature. This volume is recommended for readers seeking Hardy beyond the novels, and for anyone interested in the emergence of modern poetic consciousness. It offers a profound, unsentimental record of love, mortality, history, and endurance.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenrePoetry
Length21 hrs 57 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 9, 2017
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Hardy (Illustrated) (Annotated)
2Introduction
3Author Biography
4Historical Context
5Synopsis (Selection)
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6Wessex Poems and Other Verses
7Poems of the Past and the Present
8V.R. 1819–1901
9War Poems
10Poems of Pilgrimage
11Miscellaneous Poems
12Imitations, Etc.
13Retrospect
14Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses
15Preface
16Time’s Laughingstocks
17More Love Lyrics
18A Set of Country Songs
19Pieces Occasional and Various
20Satires of Circumstance
21Lyrics and Reveries
22Satires of Circumstances in Fifteen Glimpses
23Lyrics and Reveries (continued)
24Poems of 1912–13
25Miscellaneous Pieces
26Postscript
27Moments of Vision (pt. 1)
28Moments of Vision (pt. 2)
29Late Lyrics and Earlier (pt. 1)
30Late Lyrics and Earlier (pt. 2)
31Human Shows, Far Phantasies, Songs and Trifles (pt. 1)
32Human Shows, Far Phantasies, Songs and Trifles (pt. 2)
33Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres
34Other Poems
35Analysis
36Reflection
37Memorable Quotes