Thomas Hardy’s Poetry. The Instrumentality and Central Role of Time in Hardy’s Lyrical Oeuvre and World view

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Introduction
• Lyrical Correspondence with the Historical Past
  • The Roman Road
  • Rome: On The Palantine
• Nature and Natural Imagery Conceptualised through Temporal Processes
  • The Last Chrysanthemum
  • The Darkling Thrush
• Evolutionary Meliorism
  • The Concept of Evolutionary Meliorism
  • To Outer Nature
  • The Lacking Sense
• Conclusion

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This paper examines the central role of time in Thomas Hardy's lyrical oeuvre. It explores how Hardy utilizes time in its various manifestations and occurrences to express his ideas and worldview. The paper investigates three main frameworks for Hardy's uses of time: the historical past, natural imagery, and Evolutionary Meliorism.

• The Instrumentality and Central Role of Time in Hardy's Lyrical Oeuvre
• The Historical Past as a Source of Meaning and Connection
• Nature and Natural Imagery as Representations of Temporal Processes
• Evolutionary Meliorism as a Defining Worldview in Hardy's Poetry
• The Interplay of Time, Nature, and History in Shaping Hardy's Lyrical Vision

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

The first chapter focuses on the historical past and its correspondence with Hardy's lyrical works. It analyzes two poems, "The Roman Road" and "Rome: On The Palantine", to demonstrate how Hardy uses the historical past to create meaningful connections and illuminate the concept of moments of vision.

The second chapter investigates the relationship between time and nature in Hardy's poetry. It examines "The Last Chrysanthemum" and "The Darkling Thrush" to illustrate how Hardy utilizes floral and faunal imagery to represent temporal processes and the concept of Mother Nature.

The third chapter delves into Hardy's self-defined worldview, Evolutionary Meliorism. It defines the term and explores its influence on two poems, "To Outer Nature" and "The Lacking Sense", analyzing how they incorporate and utilize the concepts of time, nature, and history within this framework.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

Thomas Hardy, time, poetry, lyrical oeuvre, historical past, natural imagery, Evolutionary Meliorism, moments of vision, Mother Nature, temporal processes, worldview.