Works of Thomas Hardy discussion

I am curious as to whether anyone has a favorite of Hardy’s volumes of poetry?

Admittedly, reading his entire poetic canon is quite a task. I have never read The Dynasts, but I have been able to read a good measure of each of his volumes to form an opinion. I like Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres, his last volume, the best.

The vagaries of what draws a person to a particular work are not always easy to decipher, but I like Winter Words for its rather weary wisdom. One can tell it is his final work, I suppose.

In more of an opposite frame, I like Wallace Stevens’ first volume, Harmonium, the best. So it can vary poet to poet.

This is an intriguing question, John. Thanks for opening it 😊

I do definitely prefer reading separate volumes of poetry in most cases John, but Hardy is one poet where I haven't done that yet. I've only read selections. So I can't answer the question, but it's a great question! I look forward to other people's answers, and I enjoyed seeing yours.

This group has introduced me to a great variety of his poetry in a "friendly" way and has definitely increased my appreciation for it.

The selections that I read prior to the group didn't include most of the poems that I've seen in this group that I liked the most. But I suppose I often find that I prefer lesser known poems by authors to the ones that are most commonly anthologized or selected.

Greg wrote: "I do definitely prefer reading separate volumes of poetry in most cases John, but Hardy is one poet where I haven't done that yet. I've only read selections. So I can't answer the question, but it'..."

Greg, one difficulty with assessing single volumes of poems is sometimes the availability is superseded by “Selected Poems” collections.

In some cases, we cannot ascribe a theme to collections. Rather, they are, more or less, published when the poet and publisher decided there were enough poems chronologically complete to issue a work.

But I have found certain poets to be more interesting to read when we can study what is gathered in a single volume. In Hardy’s case, certainly Satires of Circumstance and Winter Words draw strength as completely realized works of art, similar to a painting or statue.

John wrote: "Greg, one difficulty with assessing single volumes of poems is sometimes the availability is superseded by “Selected Poems” collections.

In some cases, we cannot ascribe a theme to collections. Rather, they are, more or less, published when the poet and publisher decided there were enough poems chronologically complete to issue a work."

Very true John!

But one thing I've noticed over the years is that poets tend to have concerns or motifs they're thinking about at a certain time; so just because the poems were written at a similar time, they might reflect and enlarge upon each other. Not always by any means.

A number of poets from the past several decades do take great care in arranging the order of poems in those individual volumes (I think of them as "chapbooks", but I might have the wrong term). I really like to read poetry that way when I can, though they can be hard to find and quite expensive, even for poetry as far back as the 1920s.

For example, I was astonished when I found the original volume Poems [1933] by Stephen Spender and read it. The book was astonishing and to me, quite moving. But in selections of his work, I had never been very interested. The poems reflected upon each other, and this made them not only much easier to understand but also much more meaningful as a whole. Also, there were some beautiful poems in there that I had never seen anthologized. Although selections and anthologies try to pick the historically meaningful and representitive choices, they often miss the ones that speak to me the most.

Another thing is the length. I spend a lot more time reading poetry than prose because poetry often needs more space and time. The length of those individual volumes, usually less than 100 pages, is perfect for me. That's about the most of a poet that I want to absorb at a time. Later on, I can circle back and read another volume once I've had time to read other things. I don't tend to enjoy reading a 400 page book of collected poems without some breaks for other things.

This is all just my very personal way of enjoying poetry. I imagine everyone has their own idiosyncracies with it!

Greg wrote: "John wrote: "Greg, one difficulty with assessing single volumes of poems is sometimes the availability is superseded by “Selected Poems” collections.

In some cases, we cannot ascribe a theme to co..."

Greg, I agree with what you said. I find the very large books of poems, usually the collected poems, to be too much. I prefer, and generally enjoy more, the single volumes.