On a Darkling Plain

<p>Originally published in 1947 and presenting the famed poet-novelist against the background of contemporary thought and society Harvey Curtis Webster shows that Hardy's later works give consistent evidence of hope; that pervasive pessimism was by no means the keynote of Hardy's thought.</p><p><em>On a Darkling Plain</em> traces the evolution of Hardy's thought from faith through disillusionment to a cautious belief in the ultimate progress of man.</p>