Wessex Poems and Other Verses (often referred to simply as Wessex Poems) is a collection of 51 poems set against the bleak and forbidding Dorset landscape by English writer Thomas Hardy. It was Hardy's first published collection of poetry and demarcated a shift in his output from prose to verse. It was first published in London and New York in 1898 by Harper & Brothers, and contained a number of illustrations by the author himself.
Reception The collection met a broadly hostile reception, critics being accustomed to Hardy as a (controversial) writer of prose alone.M.Seymour-Smith, Thomas Hardy (London 1994) p. 637 Hardy himself was taken aback by the failure to recognise his dry humour, as in the (slightly bawdy) 'Bride-Night Fire'.T & F. Hardy, Thomas Hardy (Ware 2007) p. 311
On a more personal note, his wife Emma disliked the section consisting of love lyrics to various recipients; and especially 'The Ivy Wife', which she felt aimed at her.M.Seymour-Smith, Thomas Hardy (London 1994) p. 561
Notable poems Two notable early poems from the collection (1860s) were "Hap" and 'Amabel' - the latter exploring the theme of sexual attraction impacted by age taken up by The Well-Beloved.M.Seymour-Smith, Thomas Hardy (London 1994) p. 597 'She at His Funeral' was a tribute to Hardy's friend Horace Moule;M.Seymour-Smith, Thomas Hardy (London 1994) p. 177 while the bitter "Neutral Tones" and the cheerful 'Sergeant's Song' show further aspects of Hardy's range of poetic subjects.I. Ousby ed., The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (Cambridge 1995) p. 1007
See also 1898 in poetry Thomas Hardy's Wessex
References
External links
The complete Wessex Poems and Other Verses