This volume in the 21st-Century Oxford Authors series offers students a comprehensive selection of the work of Thomas Hardy—the first for nearly thirty years. The edition presents the poetry in a new way by using the text of Hardy's individual volumes, as they appeared originally, instead of the revised text he later produced for his
Collected Poems
. This edition reveals the range and variety of his output—qualities he later tended to disguise. His most famous sequence,
Poems of 1912-13
, appears in a radically different form.
Selections from his epic drama,
The Dynasts
, are given within the chronological sequence of his poetry, illustrating the power of this neglected work. Notebook and journal entries where Hardy puts forward his understanding of poetry and the role of the poet are also included.
Uniquely generous in the number of poems it contains, this edition also provides extensive annotation, locating Hardy's work in its cultural context and reading it in the light of the critical reception. The notes direct attention towards Hardy's regional heritage, and they show his response to the issues and debates of his day—to discussions surrounding war, patriotism, the treatment of animals, marriage, and religion, among others. The annotation identifies, in addition, how Hardy's work has continued to speak to present-day readers, by addressing present-day concerns—in particular, gender, including the gender(s) of the poetic voice, the global and (or versus) the local, and humanity's place within the natural world.
The edition also includes an Introduction to the life and works of Hardy and a Chronology.