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17 Thomas Hardy, War Poetry

  • Daniel Dornhofer
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Handbook of British Literature and Culture of the First World War
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Handbook of British Literature and Culture of the First World War

Abstract

Hardy detested war. And yet the subject never ceased to appeal to his literary imagination to which his monumental “epic-drama” of the Napoleonic Wars The Dynasts (1904-1908) bears witness. Even though his knowledge of war was entirely second-hand at best, many soldiers testified to his impressive insight into the minds and behaviour patterns of fighting men there and in other works. Much of his war poetry is dialogic or even polyphonic and Hardy repeatedly insisted that he mostly tried to capture the individual response while not being interested in group psychology. He never made it his aim to present unified views but to record personal impressions (East 2015, 25-26). The resulting diversity of voices in his poems on the Great War has frequently been misconstrued as expressions of patriotic naivety and uncharacteristically martial tones by later critics and readers who widely admire his Boer War poems. But the political realities of 1914 were radically different from those Hardy had so poignantly analysed 15 years earlier and to fight seemed to be the only option left in the face of German aggression. Only relatively recently, however, have Hardy scholars begun reassessing these poems and presented a much more complex understanding of the tensions between public and personal registers and the way his poetry frequently questions and undermines the tropes of propaganda so readily parroted by many of his colleagues in and out of uniform.

Abstract

Hardy detested war. And yet the subject never ceased to appeal to his literary imagination to which his monumental “epic-drama” of the Napoleonic Wars The Dynasts (1904-1908) bears witness. Even though his knowledge of war was entirely second-hand at best, many soldiers testified to his impressive insight into the minds and behaviour patterns of fighting men there and in other works. Much of his war poetry is dialogic or even polyphonic and Hardy repeatedly insisted that he mostly tried to capture the individual response while not being interested in group psychology. He never made it his aim to present unified views but to record personal impressions (East 2015, 25-26). The resulting diversity of voices in his poems on the Great War has frequently been misconstrued as expressions of patriotic naivety and uncharacteristically martial tones by later critics and readers who widely admire his Boer War poems. But the political realities of 1914 were radically different from those Hardy had so poignantly analysed 15 years earlier and to fight seemed to be the only option left in the face of German aggression. Only relatively recently, however, have Hardy scholars begun reassessing these poems and presented a much more complex understanding of the tensions between public and personal registers and the way his poetry frequently questions and undermines the tropes of propaganda so readily parroted by many of his colleagues in and out of uniform.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Preface VII
  4. Contents IX
  5. 0 Introduction 1
  6. Part I: Systematic Questions: Genres and Perspectives
  7. 1 The First World War in Poetry 37
  8. 2 Autobiographical Writing and the First World War 65
  9. 3 The Novel of the First World War 87
  10. 4 The Short Story of the First World War 103
  11. 5 The First World War in British Narrative Film and Television: From Visual Archive to Filmic Imagination 117
  12. 6 Gendering the First World War: Masculinity and Femininity in First World War Literary and Cultural Production 147
  13. 7 Indian Writings of the First World War 167
  14. Part II: Close Readings
  15. 8 Richard Aldington, Images of War (1919) and Death of a Hero (1929) 183
  16. 9 Enid Bagnold, A Diary Without Dates (1918) and The Happy Foreigner (1920) 197
  17. 10 Arnold Bennett, The Pretty Lady (1918) 205
  18. 11 Edmund Blunden, Undertones of War (1928) and War Poetry 215
  19. 12 Mary Borden, The Forbidden Zone (1929) and Sarah Gay (1931) 231
  20. 13 Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth (1933) 241
  21. 14 Ford Madox Ford, Parade’s End (tetralogy, 1924–1928) 253
  22. 15 Robert Graves, War Poetry and Goodbye To all That (1929) 267
  23. 16 Ivor Gurney, War Poetry 281
  24. 17 Thomas Hardy, War Poetry 291
  25. 18 Storm Jameson, That Was Yesterday (1932) and Mirror in Darkness (1934–1936) 307
  26. 19 David Jones, In Parenthesis (1937) 323
  27. 20 Rudyard Kipling, Poetry and Short Stories of the First World War 337
  28. 21 Vernon Lee, Satan the Waster (1920) and Peace with Honour (1915) 349
  29. 22 Rose Macaulay, Non-Combatants and Others (1916) and Other War Writings 371
  30. 23 Wilfred Owen, War Poetry 381
  31. 24 Ernest Raymond, Tell England (1922) and Other Writings 397
  32. 25 Isaac Rosenberg, War Poetry 407
  33. 26 Siegfried Sassoon, War Poems (1919) and The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston (1937) 423
  34. 27 R.C. Sherriff, Journey’s End (1928) 435
  35. 28 May Sinclair, A Journal of Impressions in Belgium (1915), War Poetry and Fiction 445
  36. 29 Virginia Woolf, Jacob’s Room (1922), Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), The Years (1937) and Three Guineas (1938) 459
  37. 30 Joan Littlewood and the Theatre Workshop, Oh What a Lovely War (1963) 483
  38. 31 Susan Hill, Strange Meeting (1971) 491
  39. 32 Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War (1993) 499
  40. Index of Subjects 507
  41. Index of Names 515
  42. List of Contributors 527
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110422467-018

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Preface VII
  4. Contents IX
  5. 0 Introduction 1
  6. Part I: Systematic Questions: Genres and Perspectives
  7. 1 The First World War in Poetry 37
  8. 2 Autobiographical Writing and the First World War 65
  9. 3 The Novel of the First World War 87
  10. 4 The Short Story of the First World War 103
  11. 5 The First World War in British Narrative Film and Television: From Visual Archive to Filmic Imagination 117
  12. 6 Gendering the First World War: Masculinity and Femininity in First World War Literary and Cultural Production 147
  13. 7 Indian Writings of the First World War 167
  14. Part II: Close Readings
  15. 8 Richard Aldington, Images of War (1919) and Death of a Hero (1929) 183
  16. 9 Enid Bagnold, A Diary Without Dates (1918) and The Happy Foreigner (1920) 197
  17. 10 Arnold Bennett, The Pretty Lady (1918) 205
  18. 11 Edmund Blunden, Undertones of War (1928) and War Poetry 215
  19. 12 Mary Borden, The Forbidden Zone (1929) and Sarah Gay (1931) 231
  20. 13 Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth (1933) 241
  21. 14 Ford Madox Ford, Parade’s End (tetralogy, 1924–1928) 253
  22. 15 Robert Graves, War Poetry and Goodbye To all That (1929) 267
  23. 16 Ivor Gurney, War Poetry 281
  24. 17 Thomas Hardy, War Poetry 291
  25. 18 Storm Jameson, That Was Yesterday (1932) and Mirror in Darkness (1934–1936) 307
  26. 19 David Jones, In Parenthesis (1937) 323
  27. 20 Rudyard Kipling, Poetry and Short Stories of the First World War 337
  28. 21 Vernon Lee, Satan the Waster (1920) and Peace with Honour (1915) 349
  29. 22 Rose Macaulay, Non-Combatants and Others (1916) and Other War Writings 371
  30. 23 Wilfred Owen, War Poetry 381
  31. 24 Ernest Raymond, Tell England (1922) and Other Writings 397
  32. 25 Isaac Rosenberg, War Poetry 407
  33. 26 Siegfried Sassoon, War Poems (1919) and The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston (1937) 423
  34. 27 R.C. Sherriff, Journey’s End (1928) 435
  35. 28 May Sinclair, A Journal of Impressions in Belgium (1915), War Poetry and Fiction 445
  36. 29 Virginia Woolf, Jacob’s Room (1922), Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), The Years (1937) and Three Guineas (1938) 459
  37. 30 Joan Littlewood and the Theatre Workshop, Oh What a Lovely War (1963) 483
  38. 31 Susan Hill, Strange Meeting (1971) 491
  39. 32 Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War (1993) 499
  40. Index of Subjects 507
  41. Index of Names 515
  42. List of Contributors 527
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