--- product_id: 5439922 title: "Selected Poems (Penguin Classics)" price: "NZ$43" currency: NZD in_stock: true reviews_count: 11 url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/5439922-selected-poems-penguin-classics store_origin: NZ region: New Zealand --- # Selected Poems (Penguin Classics) **Price:** NZ$43 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Selected Poems (Penguin Classics) - **How much does it cost?** NZ$43 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nz](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/5439922-selected-poems-penguin-classics) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Thomas Hardy abandoned the novel form at the turn of the century, probably after public reaction to Jude the Obscure , but continued to write verse displaying a wide variety of metrical styles and stanza forms and a broad scope of tone and attitude. This definitive volume contains selections from his numerous collections published between 1898 and 1928. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Review: "Emotion put into measure" - I commend this volume for three reasons. First and foremost for the 180 or so poems by Thomas Hardy (out of the approximately 950 he wrote). Among critics and self-professed serious students of English poetry, Hardy is often mildly disparaged as a poet. Yet among poets themselves, Hardy is/was admired and loved, even by "moderns" such as Pound, Jeffers, and Larkin. Two aspects of Hardy's poetry stand out. One is his adherence to rhyme and meter. But Hardy is marvelously creative and diverse in his use of meter, his rhyming patterns, and the structure of his poems. He relies heavily on good old Anglo-Saxon words (many monosyllabic) and constructions. For those, like me, who often are uncomfortable with the free form and discursiveness of much modern poetry, Hardy is a welcome alternative. (The majority of the poems in this selection are less than twenty lines; very few are more than fifty.) The other conspicuous characteristic of Hardy's poetry is the somber atmosphere. The most common themes are death, the passage of time, nostalgia and regret. His poems are simple (few annotations are needed to read and understand them); they are more emotional than intellectual, more concrete than abstract; and they are very personal. Ultimately, then, THOMAS HARDY: SELECTED POEMS demonstrates a high degree of poetic craftsmanship and discipline and it constitutes a very moving body of work. The second reason for commending this particular volume of Hardy's poems is Robert Mezey's Introduction and notes. At just over twenty pages, the Introduction is an ideal length. In it, Mezey succinctly makes his case for stating that "among the moderns", Hardy's "only peer is Frost and, perhaps, Yeats." One of the virtues of Hardy's poetry that Mezey identifies (and his selection confirms) is that with Hardy "the sense we get [is] that the moral and the aesthetic are rarely, if ever, separate things." The Introduction is learned, but it is not ivory tower: at one point Mezey compares a wonderful "song-like" rhyme in a Hardy poem with a rhyme from a Randy Travis song. Lastly, this volume stands out for me for what it revealed of Thomas Hardy himself, that he was very decent and very human. I occasionally indulge myself by fantasizing about what it might have been like to spend an evening with a famous writer: of all famous writers, Thomas Hardy is one of those I most would have liked to have done so, and who (I sense) would have genuinely, without condescension, been interested in me. One of several bonus features of the book is an Appendix containing miscellaneous comments Hardy made about poetry, writing, and life. Two of them seem worth sharing here: "The business of the poet and novelist is to show the sorriness underlying the grandest things, and the grandeur underlying the sorriest things." "Poetry is emotion put into measure. The emotion must come by nature, but the measure can be acquired by art." After years - nay, decades - of reading only prose, I have resolved to expand my horizons (or, if you wish, deepen my soul) by reading poetry regularly - say about one book or collection each month. THOMAS HARDY: SELECTED POEMS proved to be an excellent beginning. Review: Thomas Hardy, is somewhat new for me, however ... - Thomas Hardy, is somewhat new for me, however after reading just a few poems I knew it was just right for what I had been looking for. No man can read Hardy's poems collected but that his own life, and forgotten moments of it, will not come back to him. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #170,606 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #116 in British & Irish Literary Criticism (Books) #350 in European Poetry (Books) #625 in European Literature (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 49 Reviews | ## Images ![Selected Poems (Penguin Classics) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91oYlmfRvxL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Emotion put into measure" *by R***N on May 6, 2012* I commend this volume for three reasons. First and foremost for the 180 or so poems by Thomas Hardy (out of the approximately 950 he wrote). Among critics and self-professed serious students of English poetry, Hardy is often mildly disparaged as a poet. Yet among poets themselves, Hardy is/was admired and loved, even by "moderns" such as Pound, Jeffers, and Larkin. Two aspects of Hardy's poetry stand out. One is his adherence to rhyme and meter. But Hardy is marvelously creative and diverse in his use of meter, his rhyming patterns, and the structure of his poems. He relies heavily on good old Anglo-Saxon words (many monosyllabic) and constructions. For those, like me, who often are uncomfortable with the free form and discursiveness of much modern poetry, Hardy is a welcome alternative. (The majority of the poems in this selection are less than twenty lines; very few are more than fifty.) The other conspicuous characteristic of Hardy's poetry is the somber atmosphere. The most common themes are death, the passage of time, nostalgia and regret. His poems are simple (few annotations are needed to read and understand them); they are more emotional than intellectual, more concrete than abstract; and they are very personal. Ultimately, then, THOMAS HARDY: SELECTED POEMS demonstrates a high degree of poetic craftsmanship and discipline and it constitutes a very moving body of work. The second reason for commending this particular volume of Hardy's poems is Robert Mezey's Introduction and notes. At just over twenty pages, the Introduction is an ideal length. In it, Mezey succinctly makes his case for stating that "among the moderns", Hardy's "only peer is Frost and, perhaps, Yeats." One of the virtues of Hardy's poetry that Mezey identifies (and his selection confirms) is that with Hardy "the sense we get [is] that the moral and the aesthetic are rarely, if ever, separate things." The Introduction is learned, but it is not ivory tower: at one point Mezey compares a wonderful "song-like" rhyme in a Hardy poem with a rhyme from a Randy Travis song. Lastly, this volume stands out for me for what it revealed of Thomas Hardy himself, that he was very decent and very human. I occasionally indulge myself by fantasizing about what it might have been like to spend an evening with a famous writer: of all famous writers, Thomas Hardy is one of those I most would have liked to have done so, and who (I sense) would have genuinely, without condescension, been interested in me. One of several bonus features of the book is an Appendix containing miscellaneous comments Hardy made about poetry, writing, and life. Two of them seem worth sharing here: "The business of the poet and novelist is to show the sorriness underlying the grandest things, and the grandeur underlying the sorriest things." "Poetry is emotion put into measure. The emotion must come by nature, but the measure can be acquired by art." After years - nay, decades - of reading only prose, I have resolved to expand my horizons (or, if you wish, deepen my soul) by reading poetry regularly - say about one book or collection each month. THOMAS HARDY: SELECTED POEMS proved to be an excellent beginning. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thomas Hardy, is somewhat new for me, however ... *by S***Y on November 18, 2014* Thomas Hardy, is somewhat new for me, however after reading just a few poems I knew it was just right for what I had been looking for. No man can read Hardy's poems collected but that his own life, and forgotten moments of it, will not come back to him. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank God *by C***S on August 13, 2011* I have no idea what to do but I would like to thank Amazaon for having this book (Thomas Hardy Selected Poems) because I really need this book for my English Literature class since I'm taking the course for my A-levels!!!! --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.nz/products/5439922-selected-poems-penguin-classics](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/5439922-selected-poems-penguin-classics) --- *Product available on Desertcart New Zealand* *Store origin: NZ* *Last updated: 2026-05-16*