Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries, with Miscellaneous Pieces


Published in 1914, this is a compilation of 107 poems by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), who is probably better known as the author of such famous novels as Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Far from the Madding Crowd. Similar to his novels, the underlying themes of the majority of the poems in this collection are death, departure and unfulfilled love, while the central piece is comprised of the 15 short "Satires of Circumstance," funny poems with a bittersweet touch. The poems have been recorded by our trio of readers John Burlinson, Tomas Peter and Sonia. As an interesting touch, some poems can be considered short dramatic readings, and as such have been performed as dialogues. (3 hr 42 min)

Chapters

In Front of the Landscape
Channel Firing
The Convergence of the Twain
The Ghost of the Past
After the Visit
To Meet, or Otherwise
The Difference
The Sun on the Bookcase
'When I set out for Lyonnesse'
A Thunderstorm in Town
The Torn Letter
Beyond the Last Lamp
The Face at the Casement
Lost Love
'My Spirit will not haunt the mound'
Wessex Heights
In Death divided
The Place on the Map
Where the Picnic was
The Schreckhorn
A Singer asleep
A Plaint to Man
God's Funeral
Spectres that grieve
'Ah, are you digging on my grave?'
I. At Tea
II. In Church
III. By her Aunt's Grave
IV. In the Room of the Bride-elect
V. At the Watering-place
VI. In the Cemetery
VII. Outside the Window
VIII. In the Study
IX. At the Altar-rail
X. In the Nuptial Chamber
XI. In the Restaurant
XII. At the Draper's
XIII. On the Death-bed
XIV. Over the Coffin
XV. In the Moonlight
Self-unconscious
The Discovery
Tolerance
Before and after Summer
At Day-close in November
The Year's Awakening
Under the Waterfall
The Spell of the Rose
St. Launce's revisited
The Going
Your Last Drive
The Walk
Rain on a Grave
'I found her out there'
Without Ceremony
Lament
The Haunter
The Voice
His Visitor
A Circular
A Dream or No
After a Journey
A Death-day recalled
Beeny Cliff
At Castle Boterel
Places
The Phantom Horsewoman
The Wistful Lady
The Woman in the Rye
The Cheval-Glass
The Re-enactment
Her Secret
'She charged me'
The Newcomer's Wife
A Conversation at Dawn
A King's Soliloquy
The Coronation
Aquae Sulis
Seventy-four and Twenty
The Elopment
'I rose up as my custom is'
A Week
Had you wept
Bereft, she thinks she dreams
In the British Museum
In the Servants Quarters
The Obliterate Tomb
'Regret not me'
The Recalcitrants
Starlings on the Roof
The Moon looks in
The Sweet Hussy
The Telegram
The Moth-signal
Seen by the Waits
The Two Soldiers
The Death of Regret
In the Days of the Crinoline
The Roman Gravemounds
The Workbox
The Sacrilege
The Abbey Mason
The Jubilee of a Magazine
The Satin Shoes
Exeunt Omnes
A Poet
'Men who march away'