Thomas Hardy remains one of the best loved of the great English poets, perhaps drawing his popularity from the elegiac tone of much of his best verse and the universality of his subject matter. This selection of his work represents all of Hardy's verse collections - giving generous samples from his finest. Much of the poetry dates from the final decades of his life, by which time he had abandoned novel-writing. They are old man's poetry in their concern with the passing of time and the sharp sense of hopes defeated and losses sustained. Yet always these lyrics are contained within controlled metrical patterns, through which Hardy demonstrated his genius for mastering poetical form.