{"product_id":"poems-of-the-past-and-the-present-by-thomas-hardy-9781636379548","title":"Poems of the Past and the Present","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThomas Hardy OM (2 June 1840 - 11 January 1928) 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, including the poetry of 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhile Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, he gained fame as the author of novels such as \u003cem\u003eFar from the Madding Crowd\u003c\/em\u003e (1874), \u003cem\u003eThe Mayor of Casterbridge\u003c\/em\u003e (1886), \u003cem\u003eTess of the d'Urbervilles\u003c\/em\u003e (1891), and \u003cem\u003eJude the Obscure\u003c\/em\u003e (1895). During his lifetime, Hardy's poetry was acclaimed by younger poets (particularly the Georgians) who viewed him as a mentor. After his death, his poems were lauded by Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden, and Philip Larkin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMany of his novels concern tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances, and they are often set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex. Initially based on the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Hardy's Wessex eventually came to include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire, and much of Berkshire in southwest and south central England. Two of his novels, \u003cem\u003eTess of the d'Urbervilles\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eFar from the Madding Crowd\u003c\/em\u003e, were listed in the top 50 on the BBC's survey The Big Read. (wikipedia.org)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67599223685356,"sku":"9781636379548","price":56.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781636379548-poems-of-the-past-and-the-present-1.jpg?v=1790738952","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/poems-of-the-past-and-the-present-by-thomas-hardy-9781636379548","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}