With the Grain : Essays on Thomas Hardy and Modern British Poetry

First published in 1973 as "Thomas Hardy and British Poetry", this book then represented a challenge to critical orthodoxy. It modified the image of Hardy the nostalgic countryman with that of Hardy the Victorian engineer of language. It also suggested that, far from being a minor poet, Hardy had been a major influence on British poetry in the period since high Modernism. Exploring the wide range of poets who may have learnt from Hardy, Davie associates its influence with a curtailing of ambitions which he states has afflicted modern poetry in Britain. This poetic "loss of nerve" leads Davie to the political malaise of England, its tensions and illusions. This edition contains Davie's study of Hardy, together with his later essays, and also works on modern British poetry and the condition of modern Britain.