Works of Thomas Hardy discussion

Chapter 20: Convergence


Florence Dugdale

I had to start this post with a portrait of Florence Dugdale, the second Mrs. Hardy. She is a person who looms large in the history of Hardy, and we have finally arrived at her entrance on stage.

But before I write about Florence, I want to write about the title of this chapter. Its meaning is multi layered, and rather clever of Tomalin. There is the obvious convergence of Tom, Emma and Florence. But there is also reference to one of my favorite Hardy poems ”Convergence of the Twain”, which he wrote after the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912 (Emma dies in November of that same year).

It’s hard today to fathom what the Titanic sinking meant to the world. The ship was a symbol of modernization, and it was erased by nature. Its a perfect theme for a writer like Thomas Hardy to explore. Tomalin says this of the poem:

It stands apart form his other work in its superb simplicity, and marks an advance in power and extension of his range as a poet – with it he moves into the twentieth century

It’s a favorite poem of mine, but I didn’t realize it was a marked difference from his previous poetry. What’s fascinating about that observation is the sinking of the ship gives the world pause in the face of modernization, while Hardy moves forward. There is a lovely tension there. Much like the tension in the poem of the convergence between the growing Iceberg and the growing Ship. And on a personal level for Tom, the convergence of his sinking marriage and his budding romance with Florence.

Or at least I thought there was a romance between Tom and Florence, but Tomalin writes more than once about the lack of romantic feelings on Florence’s part. The way Tomalin describes Florence, she appears to be a woman who was good at manipulating older, stately men to advance her own agenda. Before entwining herself with Hardy, she was very close with a Dublin surgeon, Thornley Stoker – who leaves her two thousand pounds in his Will. Florence’s true romantic love was a journalist, named Alfred Hyatt. He was a sickly man, but he was also closer to her own age.

Florence introduces herself to Tom – via letter – in 1905, when she was 26 and he was 65. In 1909, Tom asks his friend, Edward Clodd, to accompany Florence to an operatic performance of Tess, and from then on Tom and Florence start vacationing at Clodd’s home in Adleburgh. Involving Clodd in this relationship, to hide it from Emma, has all the markings of an illicit affair.
The craziness increases in 1910 when Florence purposefully seeks out a friendship with Emma. At this point, I am feeling very sorry for Emma, and it’s hard to think positively about Florence or Tom, who surely condones what Florence is doing. Tom and Emma start competing for Florence’s attention. After spending Christmas of 1910 at Max Gate, Florence avoids coming to Max Gate at all, but she’s still friendly with both Tom and Emma. Tom takes Florence to Bockhampton to meet his family. Florence and Emma spend a fortnight together in Worthing – but that is their last meaningful contact

In June 1912, Tomalin writes that Yeats and Henry Newbolt visit Max Gate. Newbolt is not a name familiar to me, but Yeats certainly caught my attention! Newbolt’s description of the encounter is yet another example of Emma’s odd personality, and how Tom (rightly so) is weary of her. I can see how embarrassing Emma must have been for Tom. At moments like that, I think it is to Tom’s credit that he never divorced her. Still, I can’t help feeling empathy for Emma, with comments like this by Tomalin ”Emma’s new maid Dolly, only fourteen years old, was the kindest presence in her like now”. I guess, in the end, I’m just sad for both of them, and I can see how the bleakness of their relationship found expression in Hardy’s work.

Bridget wrote: "Thanks for reminding me that Max Beerbohm was mentioned earlier in the book. I thought the name sounded familiar but couldn't remember why. I've not heard of him before now, so his appearance in Hardy's life didn't stick in my memory."
I first heard about Max Beerbohm when his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson appeared as #59 on the Modern Library list of the Best English Language Novels of the 20th century which I think appeared in 1999.

Zuleika Dobson was his only novel. But Beerbohm's fame was largely based on his skills as a literary commentor and reviewer and as a social humorist and accomplished caricaturist. His caricaturist skills are reflected in what I presume is his self-portrait used as his avatar, which is why I included it.

I read Zuleika Dobson only because I wanted to read 99 of the 100 (not trying Finnigan's Wake, nope, life's too short) and was underwhelmed. It was fine but not worthy of its rank to me. I rated it as 3 stars when I eventually joined Goodreads. I believe it got put on the Modern Library list due to admiration for his skills other than novel writing.

Wikipedia says this about him:
Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the Saturday Review from 1898 until 1910, when he relocated to Rapallo, Italy. In his later years he was popular for his occasional radio broadcasts. Among his best-known works is his only novel, Zuleika Dobson, published in 1911. His caricatures, drawn usually in pen or pencil with muted watercolour tinting, are in many public collections.

Bridget wrote: "Florence Dugdale ...

The way Tomalin describes Florence, she appears to be a woman who was good at manipulating older, stately men to advance her own agenda ..."

That's the impression that has stayed with me, but it could be mostly through Tomalin's filter. I love the portrait you have found!

Brian - Max Beerbohm is quite well known here, as a caricaturist. I had thought Zuleika Dobson was once dramatised, but can't find any evidence of that (and I haven't read it).

Chapter 20 - Convergence Comments
This Chapter covers the period between 1905 and 1912 and focuses entirely on the impact of the arrival of Florence Dugdale into the lives of both Tom and Emma. Appropriately the chapter ends with the death of Emma after starting with the arrival of her eventual replacement 7 years earlier.
1. TOM AND FLORENCE AND EMMA
The most surprising thing to me in the chapter was the revelation that, after getting into a relationship with Tom, Tom brought Florence to meet Emma and they became ‘friends,’ at least Emma’s part. Besides being a fairly ballsy move on Tom’s part, it turned into quite the ego-building to have both members of a famous couple seeking your attention. Bridget’s comment expertly dissects the essential events and relationships in the chapter. So rather than talk about those, as I did think that, outside of the revelation of the triangular relationship, the most interesting things in the chapter were the myriad little descriptions of Florence, Emma and Tom that Tomalin peppers the chapter with, I thought I’d mention a few that struck me.
a. Florence
- “not shy about asking favors’
- “a hero worshipper, kind and sensitive, and also determined, and she learnt to be devious” (the kind and sensitive examples are in shorter supply, though)
- “young enough to be his granddaughter”
- “she was never in love with him”
- “was only like Emma in love of reading”
b. Emma
- “was not difficult to deceive”
- “believed Florence was her ally and friend”
- “one so odd who yet had to be treated as rational” (Arthur Benson)
c. Tom
- “something held him to Emma, not just fear at what she might do, or of scandal, but the years they had together”
- “he did not want to be alone”
- “I believe his fidelity to her to have been perfect” (Rebekah Owen)
2. OTHERS
a. Sir Thornley Stoker
I have no comment on Stoker but just a personal self-revelation. I never realized that Stoker was such an Irish name. It doesn’t sound like one. I did not know that Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, was Irish until sometime into my Goodreads membership, probably about 7 years ago, prior to my reading Dracula in a GR group. I grew up in a fairly Irish area of the south Chicago suburbs and never ran into a Stoker. A name source says it can be German and English but that the Irish-Scottish variant of the name come from the Gaelic name "Mac an Stocaire", meaning "son of the trumpeter."
b. Henry James
This chapter has no mention of Henry James and Tom not talking to each other.

Brian E wrote: "Chapter 20 - Convergence Comments
This Chapter covers the period between 1905 and 1912 and focuses entirely on the impact of the arrival of Florence Dugdale into the lives of both Tom and Emma. App..."

Brian, I like how your post includes lots of Tomalin's quotes about Emma, Florence and Tom. Paints a great picture of the chapter.

"b. Henry James - This chapter has no mention of Henry James and Tom not talking to each other."
This comment really made me laugh!! Thank you for that. It was nice to see a mention of Yeats instead of more Henry James.

Brian - a bit off topic, but following up what you said a few days ago about plays written by Thomas Hardy, I just saw these!

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/the-f...

1923 (2nd impression) edition of Thomas Hardy's one act play written in verse. The book is illustrated.

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/the-f...

"'The famous tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall at Tintagel in Lyonnesse' is one of the final written plays of Thomas Hardy. It is one of only two 'one-act' plays written by Thomas Hardy, made for amateurs to perform rather than large scale theatres."

Bionic Jean wrote: "Brian - a bit off topic, but following up what you said a few days ago about plays written by Thomas Hardy, I just saw these!

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/the-f...-..."

I'm so glad you ran across these books, Jean. Thank you for posting about them. How wonderful that Hardy wrote one act plays, with no need for elaborate scenery for amateur thespians!

Brian E wrote: "Henry James
This chapter has no mention of Henry James and Tom not talking to each other.."

Ha!!! This made me laugh, Brian! Thank you for that. I also appreciated your list of quotes from Tom, Emma and Florence. It's a nice way to document what happened in that "love" triangle.

Chapter 21: Satires of Circumstance

”he felt his love increased by the loss” – Stoner by John Williams

I know it’s odd to begin this post with a quote from a completely different book, but I happen to be reading Stoner as well right now, and that quote immediately reminded me of Tom and Emma. The quote is talking about a young friend’s death in WW1 – which happens to be the same time period when Emma Hardy died. Though, that hardly matters because the feeling it evokes is universal across the ages.

When a loved one dies, it’s actually quite normal for those left behind to feel a renewed surge of affection for the departed. But I didn't truly understand that before reading this chapter. I used to find it odd that Tom re-connected so deeply with his love for Emma after she passed. Now, I find it bittersweet. The love they shared was there all along, it was just buried beneath resentments piled high.

This chapter begins in 1912 right where the previous chapter ended, with Emma’s death. I very much like Tomalin’s description of the situation in the first paragraph:

”No one who knew him expected it [the elegiac Emma poems] or could have expected it without understanding the width of the gap between his [Hardy’s] imaginative life and the day-to-day events going on around him”

And boy was there a circus swirling around him at Max Gate after Emma’s death. The posturing for power between Florence Dugdale and Lillian Gifford would make a great farcical play. The women doing battle on stage, drawing into their conflict the various Hardy siblings and Max Gate servants; while Tom retreats behind his study door, and Emma’s cats die off one by one. Ultimately Florence would prove victorious, and the cats would be replaced by Wessie the snippy, snarling, spoiled terrier that no one by Florence and Tom would love.

But that took a while to come about. Emma died in November 1912. Tom and Florence wouldn’t marry until February 1914. In the meantime, Hardy battled internally between an intense recall of his early days with Emma and great sorrow over his unkindness and neglect of her. Tom’s feelings would become a problem for Florence. Just like the first Mrs. Hardy, Florence hoped Tom’s feelings for her would be reflected in his writing; that she would be his muse. Instead of writing love poems for Florence, Tom wrote poems of his grief for Emma.

Notwithstanding the ghost of Emma ever present, the second Hardy marriage appears happier – at least for Tom. For all Tom’s concern about gossip and scandal, the community at large embraced the new couple. Dinner parties were held in their honor. Winston Churchill’s wife attended one of them.
But the world was changing around Hardy in serious ways with the start of WWI in June 1915. In November of that same year, Hardy published Satires of Circumstance by Thomas Hardy.

It was not a good time to publish a collection of poems, especially poems of love. The Emma poems were hardly noticed by a public preoccupied by war. However, one reader noticed, and that was Virginia Woolf. She wrote Hardy to thank him for the poems about her father (Leslie Stephens) and praised the collection saying ”the most remarkable book to appear in my lifetime”. As with much great art – the poems would have to wait to be appreciated over time.

Today we appreciate the poems, not just for their beauty, but also because they give us insights into Hardy himself. They present us with a sort of autobiography of Hardy. In them his humanity is so present. And they illustrate a key part of Hardy’s personality, he is a man full of contradictions. Tomalin writes about this very succinctly when she says:
”the first and last poems span the contradictions always present in Hardy, between the vulnerable, doom struck man and the serene inhabitant of the natural world”

Bionic Jean wrote: "Brian - a bit off topic, but following up what you said a few days ago about plays written by Thomas Hardy, I just saw these!
https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/the-f...-..."

Thanks, Jean. That is real interesting. I am going to buy a copy. I'm weighing between a new paperback and several different used copies of these editions of an old hardback:
New: Used:

Its hard to evaluate an expensive old book on-line, especially as I want to read it and don't want pages crumbling while I turn. At this time I'm inclining toward one of the copies of the green one, which comes in first edition and later edition copies. Cost, including shipping and possible condition are factors.

The Play isn't that long, so I think even a normally averse-to-verse Hardy fan like me will manage to get through it.

Oh good 😊I don't know it Brian, but expect it's in the Hardy Players' repertoire, so perhaps I'll see it performed in Dorchester one day ...

The beauty of the Oxfam charity website is that you can return any book free. Since I mostly buy secondhand books, that's a real bonus, as like you, I like them to be in good condition. The 2 I linked to are reasonably priced - but I have no idea if they would post to the USA. And one book I ordered from the USA at Christmas only arrived about 10 days ago!

Chapter 21 – Satires of Circumstance
This Chapter covers the period between 1912 and 1917 and focuses on the impact of the Emma’s death, his relations with Florence Dugdale, and his poetry career.

1. EMMA’s DEATH
The chapter starts with Emma’s death in November of 1912, which major impact of Hardy for the rest of his life. Emma seems to have more impact in death than in life. A few things that struck me.
a. Kate and Florence and Lillian
After Emma’s death, Tom somehow allowed three women to move into Max Gate to be both its and Tom’s continued operation.
- Kate – Tom’s sister who, with their sister Mary’s reassurance, moved in to help Tom until they could hire a caretaker
- Florence – who Tom invited for her companionship
- Lillian – who arrived to take care of Emma’s belongings but did not leave until forced out by Florence giving Tom an ultimatum to do so at the end of December in 1913. I thought it humorous how she went about the neighborhood trashing Florence.
They seemed at each other’s throat with Lillian insulting Florence to her face and Florence and Kate being “united in their detestation of Lillian…”It’s not a residence I’d want to live, work or visit during the time Florence and Lillian co-habited there.
Inspiring Poetry
Tom started looking back on his life with Emma and used her as a subject of many of his poems. Tom definitely missed her more in death than he appreciated her in life. I presumed this was because he took her death as an opportunity to use her as a muse, uninhibited by her sensitivity to how Tom would be describing either her or events shared by her,. Emma’s over-sensitivity would have led Tom to avoid using her as a muse or poetry subject that often during her life.

2. TOM’s POETRY COLLECTIONS
Emma’s death seemed to spur Tom into a period of great productivity.
a. Satires of Circumstance
In November of 1914, Tom published the above-titled collection. The publisher had desired the collection because of the public’s positive response to newspaper publication of Tom’s war poems as World War I had started. But, besides war poems, it contained a section of poems about Emma called “Poems of 1912-13” whose existence really honked Florence off.
While Virginia Woolf called it “the most remarkable book to appear in my lifetime” that was likely influenced by her appreciation of Tom’s poems about her father and was not an opinion shared by most critics.
b. Prolific Period
But while these may not have been appreciated, Tomalin says that it was because Tom was still “in flower” as a poet, and he continued a period of prolific writing between 1913 and 1916, writing 150 poems
c. Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses
In November of 1917, Tom published his largest collection of poems, the above titled collection. Tomalin calls it a collection of “rich, varied, confidently written and intensely personal poems.” Some 36 poems allude to Emma, again really honking Florence off.
Tomalin describes poems with “tender evocations of their life together” along with ones describing the “contradictions always present in Hardy, between the vulnerable, doom struck man and the serene inhabitant of the natural world.” It felt really good to read that Tom wrote such wonderful poetry in what I anticipate will be his last big collection of his life. Good show, Tom!

3. FLORENCE
I can’t help but make a few comments on Tom’s second wife, Florence, as she is described in this chapter.
a. Florence, Kate and Lillian
Although Florence was the only one of the triad that Tom specifically invited in, she had to suffer some grief. Not that she didn’t deserve it, mind you. In Florence’s defense, Lillian does sound like a real pill. I did find it humorous that both Lillian and the cook both “despised Lillian for not being a lady” with Lillian stating this to Florence’s face. I am a bit curious about the specifics of her non-ladylike behavior, especially as compared to the behavior of Lillian and the cook. Lillian should have known that she couldn’t keep insulting Florence and expect to stay, knowing her influence on Tom. If she wanted to protect Emma’s interest by souring Tom on Florence, she would have been much better off acting as if she got along with Florence while surreptitiously mentioning Florence’s shortcomings to Tom. She deserved to be evicted for being so stupidly un-crafty.
b. Florence and Emma
- I also got a kick from how much Tom writing poetry about Emma riled Florence. Tomalin describes Florence being angry at the Emma-based poetry because she was offended by Tom “parading his love for his first wife.”
- Like Lillian, she failed to realize that acting less upset and more calmly, craftily and surreptitiously would have accomplished more. She could have even influenced Tom to write less about Emma and more about their shared experiences if she handled it better. Tom isn’t that strong and can be easily influenced but is also stubborn enough to resist being pushed into something.
- Tomalin says that Florence viewed Emma as “half-mad and wholly dislikeable and she now saw her rising up as a permanent rival.” Florence’s low regard for Emma must have really increased her anguish at seeing Tom write so much poetry about a person she considered to be this way. Makes me snicker.
c. Florence and Tom
- I found it interesting that they got married in a church at 8 a.m. in the morning. I enjoy reading about cultural practices that differ from contemporary ones, or ones existing in America since at least the 1950s.
- I liked that they got a dog together and named it “Wessie.” Tom’s creation of Wessex and his depiction of the setting is standout and its nice to see how important it is to him too. That “Wessie” was spoiled and a biting dog does make me less sad that Tom and Emma didn’t have kids.

I just get "forbidden" when I try to click on these, Brian 🤔 Perhaps it's OK within the USA though.
(edit - post deleted)

Bionic Jean wrote: "I just get "forbidden" when I try to click on these, Brian 🤔 Perhaps it's OK within the USA though."

That's interesting. I had no clue on this end. I do usually check and click on links I post to make sure it goes to what I intend. So I checked before I sent and again just now and it shows the pictures I took on my end. They're pictures I took on my phone and sent to my e-mail and transferred here and are worthless if I'm the only one that can see them. It may have to do with Apple.

I may try another way, but at some later day. As of now, that's all the technical tinkering this luddite can endure in a day. So its off to finish up The Holy Thief #19 in the Brother Cadfael mysteries, something that is sure to boost my spirits back up in no time.

Brian E wrote: "Tom isn’t that strong and can be easily influenced but is also stubborn enough to resist being pushed into something.
..."

Good observation, Brian. We see throughout the biography how Tom isn't so strong, and yet really stubborn. And he's certainly easily influenced by the women he has crushes on. Florence definitely picked the wrong way to motivate him.

Please don't worry Brian. It's often the case that America does not allow access to various website from Europe. It dates from a few years ago. The USA did not want to conform to GDPR (general data protection regulations) and so they are blocked to those of us in Europe.

Brian, I am also getting a Forbidden message like Jean did, and I live in the USA.

Bridget wrote: "”he felt his love increased by the loss” – Stoner by John Williams

I know it’s odd to begin this post with a quote from a completely different book, but I happen to be reading Stoner as well right now, and that quote immediately reminded me of Tom and Emma.."

It's not odd at all. I welcomed it. I loved Stoner

Bridget wrote: "When a loved one dies, it’s actually quite normal for those left behind to feel a renewed surge of affection for the departed. But I didn't truly understand that before reading this chapter. I used to find it odd that Tom re-connected so deeply with his love for Emma after she passed. Now, I find it bittersweet. The love they shared was there all along, it was just buried beneath resentments piled high.."

Very perceptive, Bridget.
Speaking of odd things, the initial reaction to Tom's sorrowful expressions of loss of Emma is to think it very odd, even hypocritical behavior in someone who neglected her and acted bothered by her during life.

But on reflection it is, as you say, more bittersweet. It is only in Emma's absence that Tom actually realizes what she provided to him and what he lost. While one naturally overlooks flaws in a departed spouse, and Emma had more than her share, one can acknowledge the faults and, especially in Tom's case, also sees the valuable aspects of the relationship that one failed to fully mine.
Tom is not hypocritical but just realizing that his personality is such that he took the lazy way out of the relationship and he regrets not having the perception to make the effort to cultivate Emma's positive aspects and what she could add to his life's happiness. As Tom realizes its too late to do so, he lament it.
That is bittersweet.

But when Tom takes these laments and channels it into some high quality poetry, that's just sweet. For us.

Chapter 22: A Friend from Cambridge

This chapter takes us through the war years, and introduces us to a man who would be important to Hardy for the rest of his life. This was Sydney Cockerell, director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. Through him, Hardy would finally get the Cambridge doctorate he coveted since his young days with Horace Moule.


Sir Sydney Cockerell 1934

Cockerell is an interesting character in and of himself. When he started corresponding with Hardy, he had not read any of his books. He simply wanted to "collect" Hardy for the museum. The museum was Cockerell's life. He would even end up neglecting his sick wife in order to travel around gathering art for the Fitzwilliam. Here's a link to the Wikipedia page about him, for those interested. He's a very interesting man.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_...

He would become good friends with Florence as well as Tom. Indeed, he would become a part of their family, in a way that none of the Tom's siblings ever really were. Tom couldn't share his love of the arts with his siblings, but he could with Cockerell. In the end he would be the executor of Tom's Will.

I found it fascinating that Hardy casually gave away his manuscripts, especially for a man who acted as his own literary agent. I think by the time Hardy started to part with the manuscripts, he was a wealthy man and saw no need to keep them.

I admired Hardy's views on war, how he disliked "simple-minded nationalism". How he strove to view England "freed from distortion by the glamour of patriotism". I was most impressed by Hardy's sympathy for the 5,000 German prisoners being held outside Dorchester. He even hired some of them to work at Max Gate.

In 1915 he wrote a poem about the war "The Pity of It", which talks about the kinship connections between Germans and English. The poem made me think about Hardy's short story The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion which we read as a group last summer. (Here's the link to the thread: The Melancholy Hussar). Set in 1890, the story centers around German soldiers in England protecting King George III (who had a German mother). I'm certain Hardy would have been thinking of that when German prisoners arrived in Dorchester in 1915. I wonder though how many others living in Dorchester could find sympathy for these prisoners.

The chapter ends with Hardy beginning to write his life story. It was Cockerell who pushed Tom to jot down the story of his life. It was Tom's idea to have Florence help him write it, and to credit her with authorship. Tom would scan old journals, taking what he wanted for the biography and destroying anything embarrassing. Certainly, famous authors want control of the narrative of their life, but this culling of documentation by Hardy completely fits with the insecurities he battled his whole life.

A little bit more . . . .

For those interested here are some pictures of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge as well as a link to its Website and Wikipedia page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzwil...

https://fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/


Exterior Fitzwilliam Museum



Interior Fitzwilliam Museum

Connie (on semi-hiatus) wrote: "Brian, I am also getting a Forbidden message like Jean did, and I live in the USA."

Thanks for that info, Connie. I deleted the post so nobody else wastes their time on it.
And I sent nothing that could be considered "Forbidden" nor have anything "Forbidden" in my phone pictures. Honest.

I bought a first edition of The Famous Tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall at Tintagel in Lyonnesse that looks like these:

😆 Brian - I'll edit my post too!

Chapter 22 – A Friend from Cambridge
The previous chapter covered the period between 1912 and 1917 and focused on the impact of the Emma’s death, his relations with her successor-spouse Florence Dugdale and the two poetry collections he wrote. This Chapter covers about the same time period, extended through the end of WWI in 1918 but focuses on other topics, which I will comment on

1. SYDNEY COCKERELL
A large proportion of the chapter is about the entrance of Sydney Cockerell, director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge into Tom’s life. As Bridget’s comment artfully captures the impact Sydney made on Tom’s life, I’ll only add that, like her, it struck me how he “collected” famous people. From what I’ve learned about Hardy, he would be an easy mark to such a collector.

2. SISTER MARY
I found the chapter’s discussion about Tom’s sister Mary to be illuminating as I previously felt I knew little about her.
a. Her Death
Mary became seriously ill and had moved in with her sister Kate and Henry at their home called Talbothays until her death in 1916. Her death and funeral services inspired some unusual behavior by her siblings
- Sister Kate was urging Tom to “kiss Mary’s corpse” and not just one kiss, but many.
- Tom initially refused to come back to Talbothays for the post-funeral gathering but did change his mind
b. Tom and Mary
Tom did seem to get along with and value Mary, which is more than he did with Kate and Henry. Tom considered himself devoted to Mary, but I thought it revelatory of Tom’s personality that Tomalin describes that devotion as done:
- “in the style of accepting her love rather than demonstrating his.”
c. Her Life
Tomalin used Mary’s death as an opportunity to provide some interesting morsels and quotes about her and her life at that time.
- She was “well read, a gifted painter and good cook.”
- She “lived like a hermit”(-Tom) and would not stay over-night in London, although she did visit the Lake District but only to fulfill “a lifelong ambition inspired by her love of Wordsworth.”
- She worked as headmistress of a school of “simple Dorset girls with no aspirations.”
- She became a spinster as “No one fell in love with her or asked her in marriage”
- She filled her maternal urges by mothering her sister Kate.
- She lived her life “trapped as a spinster school teacher, tied to the childhood home and her mother’s dominance.”

3. MISCELLANEOUS
a. Manuscripts
While Cockerell had an easy time getting Hardy’s manuscript for Jude, Hardy did not seem to value them and gave them to various places. Later in the Chapter, the Hardy’s neighbors the Sheridan’s showed off their original manuscripts for “School for Scandal” and The Critic,” plays their ancestor Richard E. Sheridan wrote back in the 1770s. It made me wonder if Tom ever regretted not giving them to some family member who might show them off to visitors 140 years later. Having no progeny, Tom would have had to leave them to nephew or niece so he must not have thought enough of any to do so.
b. Writers and Writings
I enjoyed
- That in 1918 Tom wrote John Galsworthy that he ”cannot do patriotic poems very well – seeing the other side too much.” I like that Tom sees himself that way as I think being a neutral observer can be of valuable outlook for a novelist. But mainly, as his Forsyte Saga may be my favorite piece of literature, I liked that John Galsworthy was close enough to Tom to at least be pen pals. Both authors share a similar fate in the works of other 20th century British authors. They both subject to what were mostly unflattering portrayals as thinly-disguised fictional characters; Tom in W. Somerset Maugham's Cakes and Ale and John in Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time: All Four Movements.
- That in 1916, J.M. Barrie stayed at Max Gate while Cockerell was there.
- That when talking about manuscripts Tom was giving away in the 1910s, Tomalin referred to Jude the ObscureJ as “the most famous of his novels.” While Jude was more scandalous and recent, I would have thought that Tess was more famous.
c. Tom and Florence
Interesting Things
- That he had Flo type out the notes and do so much work on his life story that Cockerell wanted and wanted her to be credited as the author despite it being mainly Tom’s own work.
- That in 1916 Florence told Cockerell that Emma and Tom’s marriage was a “complete failure,” that was going to end in separation due to a bitter quarrel when Emma died, and that “all the poems about her (Emma) are a fiction, but a fiction in which the author has come to believe.” (Tee hee)
- That in 1920 Florence told Cockerell the work was finished when, 6 years later after Tom’s death, it was not yet completed
- That when told to cut out anything indiscrete from the “Life of Hardy” she took that as leave for her to “reduce the references to Emma.” (Tee hee, tee hee)

Brian E wrote: "Chapter 22 – A Friend from Cambridge
The previous chapter covered the period between 1912 and 1917 and focused on the impact of the Emma’s death, his relations with her successor-spouse Florence D..."

Once again Brian, I completely enjoy your comments :-) I had never heard of The Forsyte Saga, so the references to John Galsworthy went right over my head. I'm so glad you mentioned the book and the author. I've now added it to my TBR list.

I've noticed Tomalin often writes about Hardy's sister Mary. I feel like she goes into more detail about that sibling than Kate or Henry. I wonder if Tomalin sees Mary as a sort of foil to her famous brother. Mary went to school and became a teacher. I wonder if she had been a man, if she would have had a life more like Tom's. What do you think? Am I reaching too far? I think I'm just searching for a reason that Tomalin gave us so much information about Mary Hardy. Perhaps it's a simple as the Emma and Mary battle that raged on for years.

Liked your thoughts on Flo too. She's a character, in a different way than Emma, but still definitely someone who has some odd behaviors.

Chapter 23: The Wizard

"At Max Gate"
by Sassoon Siegfried

Old Mr. Hardy, upright in his chair,
Courteous to visiting acquaintance chatted
With unaloof alertness while he patted
The sheep dog whose society he preferred.
He wore an air of never having heard
That there was much that needed putting right.
Hardy, the Wessex wizard, wasn't there.
Good care was taken to keep him out of sight.

Head propped on hand, he sat with me alone,
Silent, the log fire flickering on his face.
Here was the seer whose words the world had known.
Someone had taken Mr. Hardy's place.

This is the poem Sassoon wrote wherein he refers to Hardy as “the Wessex Wizard”. For those who don’t know about Siegfried Sassoon, he was a soldier in WWI who became one of the great poets, from that war. He’s a fascinating artist and worth looking into. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfri...
I was happy to discover that Sassoon and Hardy were friends. Their poems about war share similar themes.

This chapter starts when Hardy is seventy-eight. I noticed that Tomalin was now able to give us a more detailed picture of what Hardy’s days were like. What he ate, how he spent his time. I suspect with all the famous people coming to pay respects to the Wessex Wizard, it was easier for Tomalin to find diary entries detailing other people’s experiences at Max Gate.

There were so many visitors to Max Gate now that Hardy was a famous writer. Sassoon brought along some of his friend, Robert Graves, Edmund Blunden and Walter de la Mare. Hardy also corresponded with Ezra Pound,
E.M Forester. But the most impressive visitor to Max Gate had to be the Prince of Wales in July 1923. This is none other than the future King Edward VIII - of Wallis Simpson abdication fame. In 1923 he had not yet met Mrs. Simpson, but he was nonetheless one of the most famous men in the English-speaking world. I loved how Florence rose to the occasion and handled the visit so well. That’s something Emma could never have pulled off.

For all her virtues and talents, Florence had a rather negative side to her. I’m still peeved that she cut down Tom’s trees after he died; but that pales in comparison to what she did to Gerturde Bugler.

Gertrude was a beautiful, dark haired, large eyed young Dorset woman who acted in Dorchester reproductions Hardy’s plays. In 1924 she played Tess in Hardy’s own production of the story. J M Barrie and Sydney Cockerell saw her performance and thought she was wonderful. She was supposed to take the play to London, but Florence was insanely jealous.

Florence manipulated Gertrude into withdrawing from the London play, saying that Tom would follow her there and it would be dangerous to his health. Hardy knew nothing of what Florence was doing. But even that was not enough. Florence also put a stop to the amateur productions of Hardy’s stories in Dorchester. She even kept Gertrude from reciting one of Hardy’s poems, and after Tom died, she continued to complain about Gertrude. It seems so obvious that Florence remembered how she had insinuated herself into Tom’s life while he was married to Emma; and she was making sure the same did not happen to her. It’s grossly unfair to Gertrude, who was happily married, and never wanted anything but friendship from Hardy.

But, I don’t want to totally paint Florence as a villain. She did some nice things too. When Lillian Gifford (Emma’s niece and Florence’s old rival) was in an asylum for the insane, Florence rescued her and made sure she had money to live on. And when Mrs. Henniker (the other “Florence”) died, and Tom’s letters to her were returned to Max Gate, Florence Hardy preserved them.

Tomalin spends some time in the chapter discussing the modernization (or lack thereof) of Max Gate. Hardy too was stepping into the modern world. He purchased and read Einstein's "Relativity". His notes about that are interesting. Here's what he wrote:
”Relativity. That things and events always were, are, and will be (e.g. E.M.F. etc are living still in the past)”

I think the E.M.F. notation must be Emma. Mary. Florence (Henniker). That simple sentence accounts for so much of the nostalgia found in his poetry. So often when I read his poems I am struck by the existence of past and present mingled together on one string. And that rings very true to how I perceive my own memories. It makes me wonder if Hardy ever wrote to Einstein. Or if Einstein ever read any of Hardy's prose and poetry. If those things exist, Tomalin didn't know about them.

Bridget wrote: "I had never heard of The Forsyte Saga, so the references to John Galsworthy went right over my head. I'm so glad you mentioned the book and the author. "

I slightly misstated things. The Forsyte Saga is a great trilogy. However, it is only one of three trilogies that make up the 9 volume The Forsyte Chronicles.
It is the reading of all 9 novels of The Forsyte Chronicles that I felt was the truly great reading experience.
The trilogies that make up The Forsyte Chronicles are:
The Forsyte Saga: The Man of Property / In Chancery / To Let
A Modern Comedy: The White Monkey /The Silver Spoon / Swan Song
End of the Chapter: Maid in Waiting / Flowering Wilderness / Over the River

I know this will be a bit off-topic, but in 1967 "The Forsyte Saga" was a TV phenomenon. It was broadcast every week for 26 weeks, and people used to stay in to watch it as there had never been anything like it! Amazon says (under a spoiler for space):

(view spoiler)["The Forsyte Saga is often cited as the first television miniseries; it wasn't, but there's no question that it was a singular, powerful cultural phenomenon that deservedly got under the skin of European viewers in 1967... Based on several novels and short stories by John Galsworthy, [it] is a more timeless enterprise than many of the protracted British TV dramas that have followed. While it would be wrong to consider The Forsyte Saga high art, it's certainly a mesmerizing and inspired mix of theater, sprawling Victorian narrative, thinking man's soap opera, and some finely tuned, 1960s black-and-white production values that (especially when shot outdoors) are strikingly handsome.

Above all, Forsyte is driven by its characters--perhaps to an extreme, though the two-generation storyline makes no apologies for creating compelling people whose capacity for short-sighted blundering, bursts of grace, and slow-brewing redemption make them recognizably human. Eric Porter towers over everything as Soames Forsyte, a humorless attorney whose guiding principles of measurable value cause great heartache but slowly evolve, leaving him a graying, good father, arts patron, and sympathetic repository of memory. From the cast of 150 or so, other standouts include Susan Hampshire as Soames's troubled daughter, [Fleur - she won an Emmy] Nyree Dawn Porter as the wife of two very different Forsyte men, and Kenneth More as the family's artistic black sheep" (hide spoiler)]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_For...

There was also a miniseries in 2002, but it wasn't the same. The books have always been very popular in England. I'm delighted that you like them too Brian!

Bionic Jean wrote: "I know this will be a bit off-topic, but in 1967 "The Forsyte Saga" was a TV phenomenon. It was broadcast every week for 26 weeks, and people used to stay in to watch it as there had never been any..."

The original 1967 Forsyte Saga TV series was first shown on NET (PBS predecessor) in America starting in October of 1969
I watched it on its rebroadcast in America as a 17-year old during the summer of 1970, the summer after my junior year of high school.
I loved it and it probably helped change the course of my life as it opened my eyes to classic British storytelling. And all because I had a schoolboy crush on Susan Hampshire since seeing her in "The Three Lives of Thomasina" which was the main impetus for my watching the series. She didn't even enter the story until Episode 13 but I was hooked way before then.

I've owned the DVD for over 20 years.

I also saw the 2002 Miniseries when it was on and own the 2nd season of it, which is based on the third book "To Let." I thought the version was very good except for one thing that is a fatal flaw: the miscasting of the pivotal role of Irene. Gina McKee is a talented actress but she can't play being beautiful enough to attract so many of the complex but superficial Forsyte men, an essential aspect of the role. I can watch the 2nd year because there is a time jump and I can more easily accept her as a 40ish Irene.

Chapter 23 – The Wizard
This chapter covered the period between 1918 and the end of The Great War through the mid-20s. Tomalin goes back and forth in time, organizing more on subject than time within that period. As Bridget thoroughly covered most of what I thought important, I’ll add only a few comments.

1. TOM’s DAILY LIFE
My favorite part of the Chapter was learning about how Tom lived his daily life. At my advanced age, I find myself quite interested in how my fellow senior citizens live. Like Tom, I find some kind of routine is good, with a daily deviation so I can tell Monday from Tuesday and so on. It was good to see Tom’s life as
a. Daily Routine
- 7:45 – Arise for tea in bed with Flo, who came to Tom’s room through the dressing room between their rooms
- 8:30/9 – Breakfast with tea and brown-sugared bacon
- After Breakfast – walk to the front gate to gaze out in the distance at the Admiral Hardy monument and generally “see what the weather promised.”
- 10:00 – Punctually in his den to begin work
- Tea Time – break for tea
- Work until dinner
b. The Den
His den was where Tom spent the majority of his day. I was fascinated by the décor and other info Tomalin provided such as:
- Tom did not allow the housemaids to touch his papers so he worked among dusty books and papers.
- Tom liked to wear old comfy clothes to work and he seemed to work through until tea time. Tomalin then said he put on formal clothes for tea. Yet when Tom reported that he did his best work between tea and dinner, I wondered if he then changed back into his ‘comfy old work clothes.’
c. On the Den Walls
It was very revelatory as to what Tom chose to hand on the den wall.
i. The authors whose pictures Tom chose to portray on his den walls:
- Thackeray sketch
- Tennyson print
- Meredith print
- Shelley portrait
- George Eliot portrait
ii. A calendar perpetually fixed on March 7th the day Tom met Emma

2. LITERARY FRIENDS
I did not know that Tom became such good friends with war poet Siegried Sassoon, a subject Bridget thoroughly discusses. Truthfully, I had never heard of Sasson until running into him in various Goodreads discussions since I joined in 2014. I found the chapter’s discussion about Tom’s friends, all younger than Tom, to be very interesting. Along with the Prince of Wales visit that Bridget described, these friendships showed a respect for Tom that is deserved and warms my heart.
a. Influence of Sydney Cockerell
Friends such as Charlotte Mew, Robert Graves and T. E. Lawrence seemed to have their friendships with Tom as a result of mutual friendships with Cockerell. Cockerell was good friends with Graves’ wife’s family. Sydney C. seems to have played a pivotal role in giving Tom the role of senior literary lion that he both deserved and seemed to have desired.
b. T. E. Lawrence
The most intriguing friendship was Tom’s with the enigmatic T. E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia. The depiction of him spending a weekend with Tom and Flo has me wishing I were a fly on the wall there.
c. Siegried Sassoon
I only wanted to add that I was fascinated by Tom being friends with the allegedly homosexual Lawrence and the homosexual Sassoon; that Sassoon felt he had to keep that part of his life hidden from his good friend Tom; and that Tomalin felt the need to say that Sassoon was wise to do so. While I hoped the Tom who wrote “Tess” would be more accepting than Tomalin seems to think, I wonder how accepting I would have been if I had lived in the early 20th century.

3. MISCELLANEOUS
a. Gertrude Bugler
Again, Bridget reviewed this story thoroughly, so I only wanted to add one comment. I first met the character of Tom’s wife Florence and Gertrude Bugler in a fictional novel that I referred to in a previous comment. The book is Winter by Christopher Nicholson
Goodreads describes the plot as follows:
84-year-old Thomas Hardy, was living at his Dorset home of Max Gate with his second wife, Florence. Aged 45 but in poor health, Florence came to suspect that Hardy was in the grip of a romantic infatuation. The woman in question was a beautiful local actress, 27-year-old Gertrude Bugler, who was playing Tess in the first dramatic adaptation of Hardy's most famous novel, 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles'.
It is pretty good and is pretty fair to Florence’s point of view as I recall. It has been 8 years since I read it.
b. Tom and Florence
I’m not as tolerant of Flo as Christopher Nicholson may have been. As Tomalin has portrayed Flo’s actions , I find many of them too outrageous to be acceptable, including what she does to the pregnant Gertrude. Some other points on Flo:
- That she “presented her life as a series of discontents…” - Tomalin
- That she had a series of medical complaints including nose surgery, depression, sleeplessness, swollen glands and frequent x-rays; she seems easy to become ill but a bit hypochondriac too.
- That on Tom’s death, she claims she destroyed Tom’s poems about Emma
c. The Famous Tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall
Since I bought the book and plan to read it someday, I’m pleased by Tomalin’s description of it as “a short and violent drama about the last hours of Tristan and Iseult..”

Siegfried Sassoon is one of the most popular and accessible war poets here - and often taught in English schools. His poems have the same stance as Thomas Hardy's, concentrating on the futility and sacrifices made in war.

T.E. Lawrence became very ... odd. He lived by choice in a tiny primitive cottage in the woods called "Clouds Hill". It had hardly any furniture, no toilet, no electric lights and so on. But he had an enormous amount of books, a gramophone and a big collection of records. He loved to have selected friends over, (not women!) including Thomas Hardy, but they had to put up with baked beans on toast and a sleeping bag. Thomas Hardy used to gaze out of the bedroom window and listen to the birds. You can't really tell from this, but it really is deep in the woods! I've been there.

This wiki article describes his eccentricities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clouds_...

T.E. Lawrence was addicted to speed, and accelerated maniacally on his motorcycle round the narrow Dorset country lanes. He was warned it would kill him, and it did. He crashed his motorbike avoiding three boys who were out for a walk.

(I hope none of this reproduces what's in the book!)

Bionic Jean wrote: "Siegfried Sassoon is one of the most popular and accessible war poets here - and often taught in English schools. His poems have the same stance as Thomas Hardy's, co..."

I had no idea T.E. Lawrence was "Lawrence of Arabia". Again, I'm showing my ignorance here, but I really don't care because I'm learning so much LOL. Thank you, Jean, for the links to "Cloud Hill". The pictures there were wonderful.

This all reminds me a bit of Henry David Thoreau. He is the American version of a recluse who lives in a rustic cabin and becomes a bit odd.

Now, you see, I am completely ignorant about him! But I have found that whenever he is quoted, I seem to agree with it.

Bionic Jean wrote: "T.E. Lawrence was addicted to speed, and accelerated maniacally on his motorcycle round the narrow Dorset country lanes. He was warned it would kill him, and it did. He crashed his motorbike avoiding three boys who were out for a walk.

(I hope none of this reproduces what's in the book!)."

It doesn't. The book doesn't go into the information you provide. I greatly appreciated the information you did provide!

Oh good! The cottage is tiny, but you really get a feel of what it must have been like, living there. So strange to see conditions we think of as from centuries ago, mixed with a 20th century gramophone, 78 r.p.m. records, and books.

Chapter 24: Winter Words



And now we come to the final chapter of the biography. There is still an Epilogue, which I will post about in a few days, but this chapter marks the end of this remarkable man's life on January 11, 1928 at age 87.

I appreciated how much information Tomalin was able to give us about Hardy's final days, including his last words to his servant Eva: "Eva, what is this?" and of course it was the heart attack that ended his days. We also know that he felt weak just after Christmas, went upstairs at Max Gate and never came back downstairs. He also didn't want any visitors, other than Florence. Though Cockerell and J.M. Barrie came to call he would not see them.

The title of the chapter is taken from Hardy's last book of poetry, published posthumously in 1928. He was working on it until December 1927. Tomalin does a marvelous job of pointing out excellent poems from that collection. Since Hardy wrote over a 1,000 poems, I find Tomalin's guidance here very helpful. Like a signpost telling me which poems to seek out first, and providing some analysis and biographical context for them. This is a chapter I will refer back to often over the years as I read more of Hardy's poetry.

I feel there was a sweetness to the last four years of Hardy's life. Sure, he lost out on the Noble Prize in literature to George Bernard Shaw, but he was definitely an eminent, respected man of letters. And I think he also enjoyed his life at Max Gate with Florence. "What kept him going in these late years . . . was the simple daily habit of picking up his pen". I think that sounds lovely.

He could stay at Max Gate, and the world would come to him. T.E. Lawrence, John Squire, Virginia and Leonard Woolf all came to see him. I loved too that he was visited by Gustav Holst. On a personal note, my family had just heard our local symphony perform Holst's "The Planets", so I was tickled to read about a relationship between Holst and Hardy. The violinist in Hardy must have loved that!

I was also touched by Hardy's sentiments on the passing of his dog Wessex "Our devoted (and masterful) dog Wessex died on the 27th, and last night had his bed outside the house under the trees for the first time in 13 years". I like to think of Hardy sleeping under the trees once again as well.

Very nice post, Bridget. It reads like a well-written and flowing essay from a beginning that introduces the chapter's general coverage, through paragraphs on the specific coverage and finally to a very Hardyish wistful ending. Nicely literary.

I will get to this chapter in the next few days and post my comment. It's nice how we complement each other with the variety of our comment formats with yours the more flowing literary style and mine the more mathematical, economic outline style

I like that picture of Hardy that you posted

I've loved following this read, and agree with Brian. Your beautifully written summaries help me to remember bits from the biography, and also remind me just how much I have forgotten! Thank you so much Bridget😊

Thank you Brian and Jean for the kind words about my post, it made me smile. It was a great start to my day!

Chapter 24 – Winter Words
This chapter covers Tom’s activities in 1924 through his death on January 11, 1928 at the age of 87. His 88th birthday was to be on June 2nd, 1928.

1. LEFTOVERS
There are several developments is this chapter that continued on from the previous chapter’s developments. As they touch on some of the more interesting aspects of Tom’s life to me, I wish to note them.
a. Tom’s Daily Life
As I said in the previous chapter’s comments, I found details of Tom’s daily routine to be very interesting. It was not surprising to see that he kept his daily habit of retreating to his study to write until he got too ill to continue in December of 1927. I like how Tomalin phrases it:
“What kept him going in these last years…was the simple habit of picking up his pen.”
b. Dramatized Versions
Tomalin says, “Dramatized versions delighted him still.” As he retreated into the obviously comfortable status of poetry writing, it is good to see him enjoy and probably realize the pleasure his storytelling skills provided the reading public through his novels. I hope he found satisfaction that though he commenced a career as a novelist because it would be more lucrative than being a poet, that he was successful, influential and enduring as a novelist.
c. Florence
- Tomalin also makes this aside about the dramatized versions of Tom’s novels: “In December of 1924, during the time when Tess was playing and Florence suffering.” This made me smile, thinking of how Florence seemed to have and need an insecure jealousy of someone, as she was jealous of both Tom’s first wife Emma and the young actress playing Tess, Gertrude Bugler.
- On the other hand, I was pleased that Cockerell commented while Tom was on his deathbed that: “My chief fear is that Florence will break down as she is too unselfish to conserve her strength.” Also, Florence often read Tom his choice in reading material while he was on his deathbed. It’s good to know, even with the negativity that her unreasonable jealousy caused, she did give love, devotion and care to Tom. That makes me feel that Florence kept Barrie and Cockerell away from Tom’s deathbed out of concern for Tom’s health rather than just for her own control purposes
d. Winter by Christopher Nicholson
There are two things that reminded of the novel “Winter” that I previously referenced in last chapter's comment
- First, was Tomalin’s reference, mentioned above, to the play "Tess" with Gertrude Bulger and Florence’s reaction to it. This was the subject of the novel.
- Second, was the title of the chapter and Tom’s planned last book of poetry. While winter is used to describe the late period of many people’s loves, it seems to be especially prevalent in describing the end of Tom’s life. I enjoy the visuals of Tom from the covers of various editions of the novel.
Tom- Tom & Wessie- Tom & Gertrude (or Florence)-

2. OTHER AUTHORS
Tom’s interactions with other authors have always fascinated me and I want to mention several that Tom had in the winter of his life.
a. Virginia and Leonard Wolfe
I enjoyed reading about the couple’s visit for tea with Tom, especially at it was at their self-invitation. Tom no longer has to seek out confirmation from others as they are now coming to him. This was surely gratifying for the naturally insecure Tom who seems to be much more comfortable with his status and himself late in life. Virginia seems especially gracious toward Tom, especially in view of how cutting she could be of authors such as Arnold Bennett and John Galsworthy. Leonard is also fairly gracious as Tomalin described his “admiration” for Tom. Leonard refers to Tom as “one of the few people who have left upon me the personal impression of greatness.” But consistent with what I have often felt is the innate snobbiness of the Bloomsbury group, Leonard can't help but throw in that “Hardy did not write well.” Still, despite seeing this weakness in writing, Leonard does correctly observe that when you finish a Hardy novel, “you see that it was a ‘great novel’ and a great work of art.”
b. T. E. Lawrence
I like seeing Tom being friends with other writers and cultural figure. T. E. Lawrence was both. So I was pleased to see that Tom and T. E. were close enough friends that when Lawrence went assigned to India, he made a special trip to say goodbye to tom, realizing it was likely to be their last encounter.
c. J.M. Barrie
Similarly, I was gratified to see J.M. Barrie coming to Dorset to visit Tom on his deathbed. From what I’ve read in these past few chapters about Barrie, whatever other odd and possibly bad traits he had, he did seem to be a considerate and good friend to both Tom and Florence.
d. G.K. Chesterton
On his deathbed, Tom dictated two short epitaphs, including one to the author G.K. Chesterton a noted defender of the Anglican and Catholic Churches and their doctrines. It was good to see Tom getting feisty as he leaves this world and praise the value of rationality and Darwin over narrow-minded and restrictive Church doctrine. It’s almost heroic to attack reactionary Christian doctrine on your deathbed as you prepare for what some might consider “Judgment Day” by a Supreme Being. It was good to see Tom act so assertively and confidently on his deathbed.

Brian, love your thoughts about G.K. Chesterton, they made me smile remembering Tom's feistiness at the end.

And the last farewell of T.E. Lawrence and Hardy was so touching, wasn't it? How Hardy went into the house to get something and when he came back Lawrence was gone - I suspect because the parting was difficult for them.

One of these days I'm going to read the book Winter by Christopher Nicholson, as you've really piqued my interest now.

And finally, I also agree with your thoughts about Florence, and how she certainly gave Tom love and kindness up until the end. That's a great comfort.

- The Tom and T.E. parting was touching and not inconsistent with T.E.'s personality. I never would have pictured them as friends.

- While Florence did some unforgivable things, generally due to her insecure jealousy, a jealousy albeit encouraged by some of Tom's antics, she did provide Tom some companionship and care in his later years. That was probably the most important things to for the elder to expect in a remarriage between a 73-year old man and a younger woman - someone who will be healthy enough to provide care to him in his mid-late 80s and beyond..
Tom never had to find out that she destroyed some of his poems after his death.

- I may re-read Winter sometime. There is probably a lot, like maybe references to Tom's friends, that I will understand and retain better having read the biography. As I said, my memory was that the book was fairer to Florence's point of view than I would have been.

Bridget and Brian, your comments on this biography have been wonderful! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with everyone.

I concur, Connie! All the way through I've said how much I've enjoyed this thread (and there will be lots of "silent" members who do too!) and I'm impressed how much detail you've included right up to the end Bridget - and Brian too! Many reads of this type tail off a little, but you have both kept the standard up right to the end, and created a wonderful resource for us all. Thank you so much 😄

Bionic Jean wrote: "Many reads of this type tail off a little, but you have both kept the standard up right to the end."

I appreciate the kind words from both you and Connie, Jean, but hey, there's still time to "tail off a bit." There's the EPILOGUE left and it looks very conducive to a bit of tailing off. Lower expectations are in order.
Always remember the words of one of my favorite social philosophers, Yogi Berra:" “It ain't over till it's over.”

Sure thing! I just thought something should be acknowledged after the last chapter 😊 And our weekly poems are well under way as you know, so hopefully you can overlap.

(I hadn't heard of Yogi Berra - just Yogi bear, but I expect it's pretty much like "It's not over until the fat lady sings".)

Bionic Jean wrote: "I hadn't heard of Yogi Berra - just Yogi bear..."

Yogi Berra was a star baseball player for the New York Yankees from 1946 to 1965, and was named Most Valuable Player three times. The Yankees were the best baseball team in the country when Yogi was on the team.
Yogi bear came later, in 1958, and was obviously named to benefit from the baseball playing Yogi's fame and his notoriety, beloved by reporters, for humorous pronouncement such as:
"When you come to a fork in the road.... take it."
"You can observe a lot by just watching."
"It ain't over till it's over."
"We made too many wrong mistakes."
"No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded."
"I always thought the record would stand until it was broken."
"Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too."
"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."
"Pair up in threes."
"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there."
"The future ain’t what it used to be."
"I usually take a two-hour nap from 1 to 4."
"If the world was perfect, it wouldn't be."
"You don’t have to swing hard to hit a home run. If you got the timing, it’ll go."
"Ninety percent of the game is half mental."
"Never answer an anonymous letter."
"Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel."
"Take it with a grin of salt."
"It gets late early out here."
"I never said most of the things I said."

Yogi is an author Yogi Berra of several books. I read this one: The Yogi Book : I Really Didn't Say Everything I Said

Thanks!

Brian E wrote: "Bionic Jean wrote: "I hadn't heard of Yogi Berra - just Yogi bear..."

Yogi Berra was a star baseball player for the New York Yankees from 1946 to 1965, and was named Most Valuable Player three tim..."

Oh my goodness, Brian, that's a lot of Yogi Bera quotes! How fun of you to type them all out. Some of them I knew, some were new to me. This one caught my fancy "I usually take a two-hour nap from 1 to 4." Ha! So funny!!

And you are exactly right, Jean "it ain't over till its over" is exactly like "being over when the fat lady sings". Only it comes from baseball fans and not opera fans LOL.

But alas there is still the Epilogue to write about, so without further delay, I'll start the post for that so we can record the craziness that ensued after Hardy died. My goodness there was some drama!

EPILOGUE


Stinsford Churchyard, Thomas Hardy's heart


Westminster Abbey, Poet's Corner, Hardy's Urn

Tomalin does a nice job of chronicling the chaos that ensued after Hardy died. Even though Tom had written his Will so that he would be laid to rest in the Stinsford churchyard alongside Emma and his parents, Sydney Cockerell had other ideas.

Cockerell wanted Hardy buried in Westminster Abbey. On the one hand, I can understand Cockerell, Barrie and others thinking Hardy deserved that recognition. I certainly feel Hardy is worthy of burial in that lofty space. But should Tom's last wishes be disregarded?

Tom's brother Henry didn't think so. Florence had already caved to Cockerell's request (perhaps because she was too distraught) so it came down to Henry to be a roadblock to Cockerell's plans. The Vicar of Stinsford offered a gruesome compromise - to cut out Tom's heart and bury it in Stinsford while the rest of him would go to London.

It then gets more complicated because the Abbey doesn't have room for a full casket so Hardy will have to be cremated. Oh, and also, they don't have the ability to host a large burial like Dickens and Tennyson had.

In the end there were two funerals. The heart had its own little casket, and a crowd (including Henry Hardy and Gertrude Bugler) watched as it was placed in the rather large plot, as you can see form the picture above. At the Abbey the urn was placed in a large casket to make sense of the procession where 10 pallbearers (including Houseman, Kipling, Shaw, Barrie, Glasworthy and Gosse) carried Hardy to a small opening for internment.

I find all this sort of fitting for the end of Hardy's life. It's all sort of upside down and opposite. The larger funeral was in the smaller town. The larger portion of Hardy's remains are placed in a small urn, while the smaller part of him (his heart) takes up a huge space. It's sort of funny, and sad all at the same time.

None of it was what he wanted, which mirrors much of his life. He wanted to study at Oxford, but it was denied to him; he wanted to marry Emma, but her family didn't approve; he wanted to belong to the educated inner circle, but as the son from a rural family of builders he was not welcome.

But that's not the complete story of his life, because eventually he did marry Emma, and he was accepted into the brotherhood of Oxford. He persevered. He became a success, by any measure of that word. Dying with an estate of 100,00 pounds. Most of which he left to his siblings, Kate and Henry. Kate would eventually buy Max Gate and donate it to the National Trust, which is why we can still visit it today.

Hardy wrote about what he saw and what he knew. Though he travelled extensively and met amazing people, his heart always belonged to Dorchester. It's felt throughout his novels and poetry. How appropriate then that his heart is buried there.

But his writing wasn't just for the people of Dorchester. In this Cockerell was right. The literary legacy Hardy left behind belongs to the wider world, and in that sense, it's appropriate to have a memorial for him in the Abbey.

Tomalin gives us a little more information about Florence. She was *maybe* engaged to J.M. Barrie for awhile, but they never married. She died in 1937, only ten years after Tom, of cancer. She was a woman who "found no joy in life". A little like Emma - at least in her later years.

This marks the end of this discussion. If you are reading this in the future, please do feel free to write any thoughts or comments you have. I will be happy to respond!

I've so enjoyed reading this biography of Thomas Hardy. There were certainly spoilers along the way, but for me, they have not sunk in to where I've retained them. Instead, I have found a much clearer picture of who Thomas Hardy was. I think that will enrich my reading of his novels as I now work my way through them. And of course his poetry as well.

Thank you Brian for joining me along the way! You made this so much more fun for me. Thank you Jean and Connie for chiming in as we went along. I always appreciate your voices and perspectives!!

Happy reading everyone!