Novelist and Poet

Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet.

While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898.

Initially, therefore, he gained fame as the author of novels

Thomas Hardy’s life can be divided into three phases:

1.The first phase (1840-1870) embraces childhood, adolescence, apprenticeship, first marriage, early poems and his first unpublished novel.

2.The second phase (1871-1897) is marked by intensive writing, which resulted in the publication of 14 novels and a number of short stories.

3.In the third phase (1898-1928), the period of the writer’s rising fame, he abandoned writing novels and returned to poetry.

Born on 2nd June, 1840 in the village of Higher [Upper] Bockhampton in Stinsford parish near the town of Dorchester in Dorset County, England

Childhood pursuits, often spending time alone wandering the countryside, exploring the flora and fauna, gaining a profound connection with nature and the familiar sights and sounds of his rural home county

Attended the Stinson church with his family, was a voracious reader, learned to play the violin and attended local schools studying Latin, Greek, French, classical literature, and assisted his father in his various building projects

At the age of sixteen, Hardy was taken on as apprentice to John Hicks, an architect in Dorchester

Left in 1862 for London to work with architect Arthur Blomfield

He worked in an office which specialized in restoration of churches

Immersed himself in the city's vibrant literary and cultural atmosphere, studying art, visiting the National Gallery, attending the theatre, and writing prose and poetry

Five years later, concerned about his health, he returned to Dorset and decided to dedicate himself to writing

EmilyHardy met Emma Lavinia Gifford (1840-1912)

in 1870. She was working at the rectory in St. Juliot, Cornwall, a building project he was working on.

They married in London in 1874 Emma died suddenly on 27 November 1912FlorenceIn 1914, Hardy married his secretary, Florence

Emily Dugdale (1879-1937) Dugdale was 39 years his junior

Hardy became ill with pleurisy in December 1927

He died at his home, Max Gate, in Dorchester on 11th January 1928

Hardy narrated his final poem to his wife while on his deathbed

His heart is buried in the cemetery of St. Michael's Church in Stinsford, Dorset, where Emma and Florence also now rest

His ashes were interred in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey, London, England

Hardy divided his novels and collected short stories into three classes:

1.Novels of Character and Environment

2.Romance and Fantasies

3.Novels of Ingenuity

After harsh criticism for two of his novels, Hardy wrote and published works of drama:

1. The Dynasts (verse drama) The Dynasts, Part 1 (1904)The Dynasts, Part 2 (1906)The Dynasts, Part 3 (1908)

2. The Famous Tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall at Tintagel in Lyonnesse (1923) (one-act play)

Poetry was Hardy's first literary love

He wrote poems from the 1860s onward till near his death, completing nearly a thousand poems (986)

Hardy is now recognised as one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century

In 1898 Hardy published his first volume of poetry, Wessex Poems, a collection of poems written over a period of 30 years

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hardy/

http://www.hardysociety.org/

Novelist and Poet