Evidence: | `My dear Watson:
Who would have supposed that I should write to thank you for your considerateness in sending the Ode, in such circumstances as the present. If the Coronation should never come off, future generations will add a footnote to the verses - then no longer copywright! - to remind readers of their remarkable history; which though it will not increase the value of what is intrinsially so fine, will lend a curious secondary intersst to them. However, as the Coronation will probably happen after all, it is useless to speculate in this way.
I will not attempt to criticise. All I can say is that the Ode struck me on a first reading & still impresses me, as being a piece of your very highest work; & to reach the level of your former productions is no mean achievement. Ideas & execution are singularly sustained throughout. I cannot find any place where they dip or falter: & my regret at coming to the last page was that there was no more of the poem.
Believe me
Sincerely yours
Thomas Hardy` |
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Century: | 1900-1945 | ||||||||||
Date: | unknown | ||||||||||
Country: | England | ||||||||||
Time: | n/a | ||||||||||
Place: | city: Dorchester county: Dorset specific address: Max Gate |
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Type of Experience (Reader): |
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Type of Experience (Listener): |
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Reader: | Thomas Hardy |
Age | Adult (18-100+) |
Gender | Male |
Date of Birth | 2 Jun 1840 |
Socio-economic group: | Professional / academic / merchant / farmer |
Occupation: | Author |
Religion: | agnostic |
Country of origin: | England |
Country of experience: | England |
Listeners present if any: (e.g. family, servants,
friends, workmates) |
Circumstances in which Hardy read the Ode are not clear. Probably a solitary experience but cannot be certain as he did sometimes read material aloud to others. |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Author: | William Watson |
Title: | Ode on the Day of the Coronation of King Edward VII |
Genre: | Poetry |
Form of Text: | Print: Unknown, Probably a pamphlet or book |
Publication details: | London, 1902 |
Provenance: | unknown Watson sent poem to Hardy |
Record ID: | 12841 | |
Source - | ||
Author: | Thomas Hardy | |
Editor: | Richard Little Purdy | |
Title: | The Collected Letters of Thomas Hardy | |
Place of Publication: | Oxford | |
Date of Publication: | 1982 | |
Vol: | 3 | |
Page: | 26 | |
Additional comments: | Letter from Hardy to William Watson, June 30th.1902 MS Walter E. Swayze |
Citation: | Thomas Hardy, Richard Little Purdy (ed.), The Collected Letters of Thomas Hardy (Oxford, 1982), 3, p. 26, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/reading/recorddetails2.php?id=12841, accessed: 25 April 2024 |
Reading Experience Database version 2.0. Page updated: 27th Apr 2016 3:15pm (GMT)