Description

Not many authors are allowed the privilege of being retrospectively considered both masterful novelists and poets. Despite the fact that Thomas Hardy saw himself as a poet first, only recently have his poems been accepted as equal to his celebrated novels. Persoon explores how Hardy's poetic vision, seemingly cemented in his twenties, existed in constant tension between Darwin and Wordsworth, betweem a scientific outlook and the poetic temperament. Perceiving Hardy's metaphorical double vision--physically represented by his own eyes, one of which was smaller than the other--we see how this bouncing between realism and romanticism informed not only Hardy's poems but also his view of language, art, architecture, religion and even humor. Hardy's Early Poetry deserves attention by anyone who is interested in understanding the full richness and complexity of Hardy's work.