{"id":4334,"date":"2024-08-09T08:30:12","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T08:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=4334"},"modified":"2024-08-12T08:48:29","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T08:48:29","slug":"the-departure-the-tale-of-how-a-hardy-poem-returned-from-america-to-dorset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2024\/08\/09\/the-departure-the-tale-of-how-a-hardy-poem-returned-from-america-to-dorset\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Departure\u2019 \u2013 the tale of how a Hardy poem returned from America to Dorset"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dorset History Centre (DHC) has successfully acquired a poem by author Thomas Hardy which is believed to have been held in America since 2005.\u00a0 \u2018The Departure<\/em>\u2019 was sold that year at Sotheby\u2019s in London.\u00a0 It next appeared at an antiquarian dealership in Massachusetts where it was purchased by an American collector in 2014.<\/p>\n

More recently, the poem then appeared at auction in Chicago in June 2024.\u00a0 DHC was able to bid for the poem with generous support from the Friends of the National Libraries<\/a> who funded the acquisition.\u00a0 After nearly 20 years overseas, we are pleased to report that this fascinating piece of literary heritage is now safely back in Dorchester where it will remain as part of the larger Hardy archive, currently being catalogued in a project<\/a> that will open up public access.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The full text of the poem reads:<\/p>\n

The Departure<\/em><\/p>\n

(Southampton Docks: 1899)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Here, where Vespasian\u2019s legions struck the sands<\/em><\/p>\n

And Cedric with his Saxons entered in,<\/em><\/p>\n

And Henry\u2019s army leapt afloat to win<\/em><\/p>\n

Convincing triumphs over neighbour lands,<\/em><\/p>\n

Vaster battalions press for further strands,<\/em><\/p>\n

To argue in the selfsame bloody mode<\/em><\/p>\n

Which this late age of thought, and pact, and code,<\/em><\/p>\n

Still fails to mend. \u2013 Now deckward tramp the bands,<\/em><\/p>\n

Yellow as autumn leaves, alive as spring;<\/em><\/p>\n

And as each host draws out upon the sea<\/em><\/p>\n

Beyond which lies the tragical To-be,<\/em><\/p>\n

None dubious of the cause, none murmuring,<\/em><\/p>\n

Wives, sisters, parents, wave white hands and smile,<\/em><\/p>\n

As if they knew not that they weep the while.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018The Departure\u2019 was one of a number of poems written by Thomas Hardy following a visit to Southampton Docks in October 1899 to watch the departure of troops to the Boer War. It was first published in the Daily Chronicle<\/em> on 25 October 1899, and later included in his Poems of Past and Present <\/em>(1902), where it appeared under a changed title with several amendments. The manuscript recently acquired by DHC is a fair copy of the original version of the poem as it appeared in the Daily Chronicle<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In Poems of Past and Present<\/em>, \u2018The Departure\u2019 became \u2018Embarcation\u2019. Hardy amended the eighth line of the sonnet from \u2018Still fails to mend. \u2013 Now shipped each war troop stands\u2019, to \u2018Still fails to mend \u2013 Now deckward tramp the bands\u2019. He also made a minor alteration to line ten from \u2018as the host\u2019 to \u2018as each host\u2019. The title \u2018Departure\u2019 was given to another of Hardy\u2019s poems in Poems of Past and Present<\/em>. This poem begins \u2018While the far farewell music thins and fails.\u2019<\/p>\n

DHC holds several other items which relate to this manuscript. One is a letter from Thomas Hardy to Florence Henniker written on 9 November 1899, in which he questions her response to the poem.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fancy you thought my sonnet on the departure too tragic? But I was not at Southampton on the Saturday when you were there \u2013 I went Friday, and saw of 5000 altogether.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The same letter also refers to the events behind another poem for which DHC holds a manuscript copy in Thomas Hardy\u2019s hand. \u2018The Going of the Battery\u2019, was written after Hardy witnessed the departure from Dorchester of the Battery of Artillery stationed in the town. He wrote,<\/p>\n

\u201c[a]s they left at 10 at night, and some at 4 in the morning, amid rain and wind, the scene was a pathetic one.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The grisly events of the Boer War had clearly made a strong impression on Hardy as he watched thousands of troops leaving for foreign shores.<\/p>\n

DHC is delighted to have been able to bring this notable piece of Dorset literary heritage back to its place of origin.\u00a0 The story perhaps underlines just how much of our literary and other heritage has been sold to oversees institutions and collectors \u2013 and how fortunate we are to have been able to reintegrate it into the large Hardy archive to ensure free ongoing public access.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dorset History Centre (DHC) has successfully acquired a poem by author Thomas Hardy which is believed to have been held in America since 2005.\u00a0 \u2018The Departure\u2019 was sold that year at Sotheby\u2019s in London.\u00a0 It next appeared at an antiquarian dealership in Massachusetts where it was purchased by an American collector in 2014. More recently,… Read more \u2018The Departure\u2019 \u2013 the tale of how a Hardy poem returned from America to Dorset<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[82,271,109,630,187],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4334"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4334"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4338,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4334\/revisions\/4338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}