Collected Poems of Thomas Hardy (Wordsworth Collection) (ISBN 1853264024)

poetry that eschews obfuscation...:
Have you ever read poetry that left you wondering what in the world the poor guy/gal was trying to say? Ever wondered if the poet was deliberately trying to leave you to choke in the dust of their own confusion? (hey, that's pretty poetic)! Ever felt that you'd like to revoke some poetic licenses? My guess is that if any of these feelings apply to you... you weren't reading Hardy at the time. Hardy may be a bit pessimistic, (Philip Larkin correctly remarked that "the dominant emotion in Hardy is sadness") and for him the glass may be forever half empty... but he's always clearheaded, and he makes sense. No confusion or rambling. The hundreds of poems in this huge volume span a lifetime, and are written by a man who considered himself a poet by choice; a novelist by necessity. Poetry was his heart's passion. This is why someone as great as Ezra Pound could claim that "no-one has taught me anything about writing since Thomas Hardy died." For pathos, depth of content, and variety of style and rhyme, I think you have to go to Shakespeare or Browning to find anyone to compare with Hardy's verse. Who has written anything to rival "The Darkling Thrush" in the 100 years since? Let me know. O.K., I'm stranded on a desert island... give me the Holy Bible and this book, and don't rescue me too soon.....