Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres

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Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres is the last, posthumous collection of poems by English poet Thomas Hardy, and was published in 1928. The collection shows Hardy continued his metrical experimentation to the end, [1] with his poetic energies undiminished. [2]

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Thomas Hardy English novelist and poet

Thomas Hardy was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain, such as those from his native South West England.

Contents

Themes

While the collection mainly featured recent poems (post 1925), the subject matter was diverse and ranged back over much of Hardy's past. [3] Notable autobiographical poems include "A Private Man on Public Men", and "So Various". [4]

Hardy was insistent in his Introductory Note that “no harmonious philosophy is attempted in these pages – or in any bygone pages of mine, for that matter”. [5] The collection closes with the poet's final farewell: "He Resolves to Say No More". [6]

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References

  1. ↑ J. Lucas, Modern English Poetry (London 1986) p. 22
  2. ↑ M. Seymour-Smith, Thomas Hardy (London 1994) p. 862
  3. ↑ I. Ousby ed., The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (CUP 1996) p. 1029
  4. ↑ M. Seymour-Smith, Thomas Hardy (London 1994) p. 573 and p. 667
  5. ↑ D. Wright ed., Thomas Hardy: Selected Poems (Penguin 1978) p. 451
  6. ↑ J. C. Brown, A Journey Through Thomas Hardy's Poetry (London 1989) p. 242-3
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