Thomas Hardy's "Overlooking the River Stour"

The Daily Poem

Goldberry Studios

Arts, Kids & Family, Education For Kids

4.6 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2021

⏱️ 6 minutes

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Summary

Thomas Hardy OM (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wordsworth.[1] He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain, such as those from his native South West England.

While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, he gained fame as the author of novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). During his lifetime, Hardy's poetry was acclaimed by younger poets (particularly the Georgians) who viewed him as a mentor. After his death his poems were lauded by Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden and Philip Larkin.[2]

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0:00.0	Welcome back to the Daily Poem. I'm David Kern, and today is Wednesday, June 3rd, 2021.
0:07.9	Today's poem is by an English novelist and poet named Thomas Hardy, who was born on June 2nd, 1840,
0:13.5	so his birthday was yesterday, and he died on January 11th of 1928.
0:18.9	You know him probably best for his novels, such as far from the
0:22.9	madding crowd, the mayor of Castorbridge, Tess of the Derbivils, and Jude the Obscure. But he was also
0:28.9	a very important poet and highly influential. I've mentioned this before on the podcast. And the poem
0:34.4	that I'm going to read today is a poem that I'm reading from the collection, which is edited by Jane McMorland Hunter, and it's called A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year.
0:44.2	And this is the poem that is the entry for June 2nd.
0:48.9	So on Hardy's Birthday, yesterday.
0:52.2	It's called Overlooking the River Stour, and this is how it goes.
0:58.3	The swallows flew in the curves of an aid above the river gleam in the wet June's last beam.
1:05.2	Like little crossbows animate, the swallows flew in the curves of an aid above the river gleam.
1:11.5	Plaining up shavings of crystal spray, a moorhen darted out from the bank thereabout,
1:17.2	and through the stream shine ripped his way.
1:21.2	Plaining up shavings of crystal spray, a moorhen darted out.
1:26.2	Closed were the king cups, and the mead dripped in monotonous green,
1:30.4	though the day's morning sheen had shone it golden and honeybeed.
1:34.6	Closed were the king cups, and the mead dripped in monotonous green.
1:38.9	And never I turned my head, alack, while these things met my gaze through the pains a drop-drenched glaze,
1:45.7	to see the more behind my back. Oh, never I turned, but let, alack, these less things hold my gaze.
2:05.1	I found an interesting blog post at a blog called thecultureclub.net,
2:11.3	in which the writer wrote a blog post called The Theme of Regret in Thomas Hardy's Poetry,
	...

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