Thomas Hardy, written by Trevor Johnson, is the detailed journey through the life of one of England's greatest writers. This biography describes some of the major details of his life such as his family, his education, and his major works.
Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 at the Village of Upper Bochampton. He was the child of a country stonemason. Hardy was the third Thomas of his family. His mother's maiden name was Jemima Hand and she and her husband led Hardy to have an unusually happy childhood. His early years were a seed-bed to his later creative development. His mother knew what real poverty was when she was young because she lost her father. Hardy said she read every book she could lay her hands on' and she grew up to be a woman of ability, judgment, and an energy that might have carried her to incalculable issues!' Many thought she was the dominant influence in Hardy's life but his father was a man of character also. Even though he didn't possess the art of enriching himself by business,' he was a fine craftsman, and a lover of music. Hardy's family was never poor and he summed up his happy childhood in a tiny lyric:
She sat here in her chair,
smiling into the fire;
He who played stood there,
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Bowing it higher and higher.
Childlike, I danced in a dream;
Blessings emblazoned that day;
Everything glowed with a gleam;
Yet we were looking away!
As a young child, Hardy mastered the violin learning over 100 tunes. He also sang in the Stansford Church every Sunday. It seems to be that Hardy and his parents had a good relationship. In 1867 Hardy met Tryphena Sparks who was 16 and a daughter to a family related to his. She was intelligent and made her living as a teacher. She bore a child in 1868 and Hardy fell deeply in love with her. But in 1872 she broke his heart by returning