Thomas Hardy, one of the greatest novelists of his time, published his first book of poetry at the age of 58, and has continued his career for more than two decades with eight volumes, one of the most coherent and seductive propositions in early-century English. poem. twentieth century. Alba Editorial showcases Hardy’s poetic splendor in an important “Anthology”. Xandru Fernandez (Turon, 1972)Reminding that the narrative was deliberately abandoned in 1895 as a result of the criticism he received for his novel ‘Dark Jude’.
– Was poetry a refuge for Hardy when his narrative was blamed for being vulgar?
-To some extent yes. It is not because this poetic ambition came out of nowhere, but as a result of the criticism he received for his novel that he deliberately gave up on narration.”Dark Jude”in 1895. That’s when she decides to stop writing novels and focus on poetry.
-What do the Hardy novelist and the Hardy poet have in common?
– It’s basically landscape. A writer with Hardy roots, she’s not afraid to be the voice of a place and some people. The relationship between landscape, architecture and character dramas seen in his novels is also evident in many of his poems.
You published your first poetry book at the age of 58. Have you had a vein of poetry already?
-Your first poem, or at least your first surviving poem, is from 1857, even though you published it in 1916. Some of his poems seem to have gone through a long process of rewriting, which he collected especially in his first books.
What is the most important feature of your poem?
-I can say that the most striking feature is the humility and irony that he frequently deals with themes such as the passing of time, death, old age, the inevitable… What would you say if you compare his first poems with his last poems? What is obvious is that he does not stop writing the same things, taking a distance from being sarcastic to sometimes cynically.
-Are you fascinated by the sights of fog and ghosts?
– Not particularly. There are many ghosts in his lines, yes, he is a recurring figure, but they do not serve as a warning, they do not come to intimidate or take revenge, they are memories, images that resist oblivion. As in the poem “Old Furniture”, in which he describes ghosts emerging from different objects. Or in “Friends in the afterlife”, where the dead leave with their worldly possessions and ambitions.
-How were the rural environments you drew? Pastoral, idealized or realistic?
-Your poems don’t exactly have “rural environments”, so we can use this term when talking about your novels, where there is an active reconstruction of the rural world, the peasants’ labor, traditions, feelings. sexual life… While some of them, for example, “Sheep Fair” have memories of peasant life, they are in the style of scenes that suggest the passage of time.
-Does the disaster that is so present in your narrative also appear in your lines?
-He dedicated a poem to the sinking of the Titanic, I think this answers your question…
– Does your innate pessimism invade your poetry?
-There is a theme that comes up with a certain frequency in your poetry, and that is the theme of unborn children. As if hesitating between lamenting the fate of those children and envying them, he uses it to reconsider the value of existence and often chooses the second option.
-Does your love story with your spouse explain many verses?
– After his wife dies, Hardy goes on a trip, a pilgrimage of sorts, visiting places they’ve visited together. Many poems were born from that trip, many filled with guilt for not knowing how to make use of the time spent with him. There’s a kind of remorse attached to the feeling of loss, as if he’s sorry for not loving her any more.