Wessex Poems

Wessex Poems and Other Verses is Thomas Hardy's first published poetry collection, issued in 1898 with illustrations drawn by the author. The poems range across intimate recollection, rural scenes and historical episodes, using changes of voice and form to approach lives touched by disappointment or loss. Wessex supplies a recognizable landscape without limiting the collection to local description. Pieces such as Neutral Tones and I Look into My Glass turn small observations into reflections on feeling and time. Hardy's visual sketches further connect the writing to particular buildings, places and remembered encounters.