Thomas Hardy - some facts

Thomas Hardy

• Thomas Hardy, (1840-1928) was a notable English novelist.
• He was born in Dorsetshire.
• Thomas Hardy studied architecture and practiced his profession for some years, but since 1873 has devoted his time to literature.
• Among Hardy's best known novels may be mentioned For from the Madding Crowd, The Return of the Native, Two on a Tower, Tess of the D'Urbermlles, The Three Wayfarers, and Under the Greenwood Tree.
• Hardy is recognized as one of the foremost English novelists.
• Hardy's poetry, first published in his fifties, had a significant influence over modern English poetry.
• A few of his poems, such as The Blinded Bird, expose his love of the natural world and his firm stance against animal cruelty.
• A number of prominent composers, including Benjamin Britten, Gerald Finzi, and Gustav Holst, have set poems by Hardy to music.