THE LODGING-HOUSE FUCHSIAS
THE LOST PYX A MEDIAEVAL LEGEND
THE LOVE-LETTERS
THE MAID OF KEINTON MANDEVILLE
THE MAN HE KILLED
THE MAN WHO FORGOT
THE MAN WITH A PAST
THE MARBLE TABLET
THE MARBLE-STREETED TOWN
THE MASKED FACE
THE MASTER AND THE LEAVES
THE MEMORIAL BRASS: 186-
THE MILESTONE BY THE RABBIT-BURROW
THE MILKMAID
THE MINUTE BEFORE MEETING
THE MISSED TRAIN
THE MOCK WIFE
THE MONGREL
THE MONTH’S CALENDAR
THE MONUMENT-MAKER
THE MOON LOOKS IN
THE MOTHER MOURNS
THE MOTH-SIGNAL
THE MOUND
THE MUSICAL BOX
THE MUSING MAIDEN
THE NETTLES
THE NEW BOOTS
THE NEW DAWN’S BUSINESS
THE NEW TOY
THE NEWCOMER’S WIFE
THE NIGHT OF THE DANCE
THE NOBLE LADY’S TALE (circa 1790)
THE OBLITERATE TOMB
THE OCCULTATION
THE OLD GOWN
THE OLD NEIGHBOUR AND THE NEW
THE OLD WORKMAN
THE OPPORTUNITY
THE ORPHANED OLD MAID
THE OXEN
THE PAIR HE SAW PASS
THE PAPHIAN BALL
THE PASSER-BY
THE PAT OF BUTTER
THE PEACE PEAL
THE PEACE-OFFERING
THE PEASANT’S CONFESSION
THE PEDESTRIAN AN INCIDENT OF 1883
THE PEDIGREE
THE PHANTOM HORSEWOMAN
THE PHOTOGRAPH
THE PINE PLANTERS (MARTY SOUTH’S REVERIE)
THE PINK FROCK
THE PITY OF IT
THE PLACE ON THE MAP
THE PROBLEM
THE PROPHETESS
THE PROSPECT
THE PROTEAN MAIDEN
THE PUZZLED GAME-BIRDS (TRIOLET)
THE RAMBLER
THE RASH BRIDE AN EXPERIENCE OF THE MELLSTOCK QUIRE
THE RECALCITRANTS
THE RE-ENACTMENT
THE REJECTED MEMBER’S WIFE
THE REMINDER
THE RESPECTABLE BURGHER ON “THE HIGHER CRITICISM”
THE REVISITATION
THE RIDDLE
THE RIFT
THE RIVAL
THE ROBIN
THE ROMAN GRAVEMOUNDS
THE ROMAN ROAD
THE ROVER COME HOME
THE RUINED MAID
THE SACRILEGE
THE SAILOR’S MOTHER
THE SATIN SHOES
THE SEA FIGHT
THE SEASONS OF HER YEAR
THE SECOND NIGHT
THE SECOND VISIT
THE SELFSAME SONG
THE SELF-UNSEEING
THE SERGEANT’S SONG (1803)
THE SEVEN TIMES
THE SEXTON AT LONGPUDDLE
THE SHADOW ON THE STONE
THE SHEEP-BOY
THE SHIVER
THE SICK GOD
THE SIGH
THE SINGING WOMAN
THE SINGLE WITNESS
THE SIX BOARDS
THE SLEEP-WORKER
THE SLOW NATURE (AN INCIDENT OF FROOM VALLEY)
THE SOMETHING THAT SAVED HIM
THE SON’S PORTRAIT
THE SOULS OF THE SLAIN
THE SPELL OF THE ROSE
THE SPRING CALL
THE STATUE OF LIBERTY
THE STRANGE HOUSE
THE STRANGER’S SONG
THE SUBALTERNS
THE SUN ON THE BOOKCASE
THE SUN ON THE LETTER
THE SUN’S LAST LOOK ON THE COUNTRY GIRL
THE SUNDIAL ON A WET DAY
THE SUNSHADE
THE SUPERSEDED
THE SUPPLANTER A TALE
THE SWEET HUSSY
THE TARRYING BRIDEGROOM
THE TELEGRAM
THE TEMPORARY THE ALL
THE TENANT-FOR-LIFE
THE THING UNPLANNED
THE THIRD KISSING-GATE
THE THREE TALL MEN
THE TO-BE-FORGOTTEN
THE TORN LETTER
THE TREE AN OLD MAN’S STORY
THE TREE AND THE LADY
THE TRESSES
THE TURNIP-HOER
THE TWO HOUSES
THE TWO MEN
THE TWO ROSALINDS
THE TWO SOLDIERS
THE TWO WIVES
THE UNBORN
THE UPPER BIRCH-LEAVES
THE VAMPIRINE FAIR
THE VOICE
THE VOICE OF THE THORN
THE VOICE OF THINGS
THE WALK
THE WANDERER
THE WAR-WIFE OF CATKNOLL
THE WEARY WALKER
THE WEDDING MORNING
THE WELL-BELOVED
THE WEST-OF-WESSEX GIRL
THE WHALER’S WIFE
THE WHIPPER-IN
THE WHITEWASHED WALL
THE WIDOW
THE WIND BLEW WORDS
THE WIND’S PROPHECY
THE WISTFUL LADY
THE WOMAN I MET
THE WOMAN IN THE RYE
THE WOMAN WHO WENT EAST
THE WOOD FIRE
THE WORKBOX
THE WOUND
THE YEAR’S AWAKENING
THE YOUNG CHURCHWARDEN
THE YOUNG GLASS-STAINER
THE YOUTH WHO CARRIED A LIGHT
THEN AND NOW
THERE SEEMED A STRANGENESS
THEY WOULD NOT COME
THIS HEART A WOMAN’S DREAM
THIS SUMMER AND LAST
THOUGHTS AT MIDNIGHT
THOUGHTS OF PHENA AT NEWS OF HER DEATH
THROWING A TREE
TIMING HER
TO A LADY OFFENDED BY A BOOK OF THE WRITER’S
TO A LADY PLAYING AND SINGING IN THE MORNING
TO A SEA-CLIFF
TO A TREE IN LONDON
TO A WELL-NAMED DWELLING
TO AN ACTRESS
TO AN IMPERSONATOR OF ROSALIND
TO AN ORPHAN CHILD A WHIMSEY
TO AN UNBORN PAUPER CHILD
TO C. F. H.
TO CARREY CLAVEL
TO FLOWERS FROM ITALY IN WINTER
TO LIFE
TO LIZBIE BROWNE
TO LOUISA IN THE LANE
TO MEET, OR OTHERWISE
TO MY FATHER’S VIOLIN
TO OUTER NATURE
TO SHAKESPEARE AFTER THREE HUNDRED YEARS
TO SINCERITY
TO THE MOON
TOLERANCE
TRAGEDIAN TO TRAGEDIENNE
TRANSFORMATIONS
TWO LIPS
TWO SERENADES
UNDER HIGH-STOY HILL
UNDER THE WATERFALL
UNKEPT GOOD FRIDAYS
UNKNOWING
UNREALIZED
V.R. 1819-1901 A REVERIE
VAGG HOLLOW
VAGRANT’S SONG
VALENCIENNES
VOICES FROM THINGS GROWING IN A CHURCHYARD
WAGTAIL AND BABY
WAITING BOTH
WE ARE GETTING TO THE END
WE FIELD-WOMEN
WE SAT AT THE WINDOW
WE SAY WE SHALL NOT MEET
WEATHERS
WELCOME HOME
WESSEX HEIGHTS (1896)
WHAT DID IT MEAN?
WHAT’S THERE TO TELL?
WHEN DEAD
WHEN I SET OUT FOR LYONNESSE
WHEN OATS WERE REAPED
WHERE THE PICNIC WAS
WHERE THEY LIVED
WHERE THREE ROADS JOINED
WHILE DRAWING IN A CHURCH-YARD
WHISPERED AT THE CHURCH-OPENING
WHO’S IN THE NEXT ROOM?
WHY BE AT PAINS?
WHY DID I SKETCH
WHY DO I?
WHY SHE MOVED HOUSE
WINTER IN DURNOVER FIELD
WINTER NIGHT IN WOODLAND
WITHOUT CEREMONY
WITHOUT, NOT WITHIN HER
WIVES IN THE SERE
XENOPHANES, THE MONIST OF COLOPHON
YELL’HAM-WOOD’S STORY
YOU ON THE TOWER
YOU WERE THE SORT THAT MEN FORGET
YOUR LAST DRIVE
YULETIDE IN A YOUNGER WORLD
ZERMATT
The Plays
Hardy in his garden at Max Gate, c. 1910
THE DYNASTS
Hardy’s epic drama of the war with Napoleon was published in three parts, nineteen acts and one hundred and thirty scenes in 1904, 1906 and 1908 respectively. Written in verse, the action is impossible to present on stage due to its complex battle-scenes, so the play is best described as a
closet drama
.
The Dynasts
is extremely ambitious, some critics having likened it to Tolstoy’s momentous
War and Peace
. Scenes of ordinary life are placed beside acts of major historical figures of the times, concentrating on their desire to found dynasties and preserve their power. Also, there are extensive descriptions of landscape and battle scenes that are characterised by shifts of visual perspective that anticipate cinematic techniques. The drama is notable for the tragic chorus of metaphysical figures that observe and comment on the events.
Hardy regarded the drama as his
magnum opus
and devoted much of his later life to its completion, but the work was treated harshly by critics and has yet to achieve the renown of his poetry and novels.
The Lower Bockhampton Schoolhouse, which was attended by a young Hardy
THE DYNASTS
AN EPIC-DRAMA OF THE WAR WITH NAPOLEON,
IN THREE PARTS, NINETEEN ACTS, AND
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY SCENES
The Time covered by the Action being about ten Years
“And I heard sounds of insult, shame, and wrong,
And trumpets blown for wars.”
CONTENTS
PART FIRST
CHARACTERS
ACT FIRST
ACT SECOND
ACT THIRD
ACT FOURTH
ACT FIFTH
ACT SIXTH
PART SECOND
ACT FIRST
ACT SECOND
ACT THIRD
ACT FOURTH
ACT FIFTH
ACT SIXTH
PART THIRD
ACT FIRST
ACT SECOND
ACT THIRD
ACT FOURTH
ACT FIFTH