This book reads Hardy's poetry of the rural as deeply rooted in the historical tradition of the pastoral mode even as it complicates and extends it. It shows that in addition to reinstating the original tensions of classical pastoral, Hardy dramatizes a heightened awareness of complex communities and the relations of class, labour, and gender.
A welcome addition to Hardy scholarship and an important corrective to its prose-centrism in recent decades. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty. (D. K. Kreisel, Choice, Vol 53 (11), July, 2017)
It engages with Thomas Hardys personal ambivalence related to profession and social class. & Thomas Hardys Pastoral is a readable and engaging reminder that Hardys poetry has as much to offer as his prose, if one looks closely enough. (Melissa Shields Jenkins, English Literature in Transition, Vol. 60 (3), 2017)?
Indy Clarks Thomas Hardys Pastoral is a comprehensive, constantly stimulating critical appreciation of Hardys rich poetry in technique and subject-matter. (Michael Thorpe, English Studies, Vol. 98 (4), 2017)
Clarks approach to the subject is a complete departure from earlier treatments & . Thomas Hardys Pastoral is a seminal work and it is one that certainly will be considered a valuable contribution to Hardy studies and which will open new areas in Hardy scholarship. & The writing throughout this book is engaging and enjoyable & . this book is a wonderful addition to studies on Hardys poetry. (Professor Paul Neimeyer, The Thomas Hardy Associations Book Reviews, Vol. 18, 2016)
It is critically alert, rewarding, and welcome. & The concept of pastoral, as this book shows, is elusive, contested, and historically contingent, but in Clarks hands it provides a valuable lens through which to read Hardys verse. (Phillip Mallett, The HlS.
![Thomas Hardy's Pastoral An Unkindly May [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/3/1/3/2_334877.jpg "Thomas Hardy's Pastoral An Unkindly May [Hardcover] xxx")