Isagel, you asked about Thomas Hardy in the middle of the thread about Larkin.I dont know a lot about Thomas Hardy though I studied one of his books 'Selected Shorter Poems.' I can well imagine that Larkin took inspiration from Hardy, though Hardy I think, when it comes to mysery, expresses it much more masterfully. I found this poetry book one to the most miserable I ever read, but there's no doubt about the poetic content in Hardy's poetry. It's expressive and full of imagery. I guess it depends on if it's your cup of tea or not. He was born in Dorset in 1840 and died in 1928. He was married to a woman called Emma who he doesn't seem to have loved very much, but after she died, he became obsessed with her, probably because of the guilt for the way he treated her in life. He remarried, but his thoughts were still with his dead wife. He was brought up as a christian but he lost his faith in adulthood and developed a fatalistic, materialistic view of life. Here's one of his poems:
In Tenebris
Winter time nighs;
But my bereavement-pain
It cannot bring again:
Twice no-one dies.
Flower-petals flee;
But, since it once hath been,
No more that severing scene
Can harrow me.
Birds faint in dread:
I shall not lose old strength
In the lone frost's black length:
Strength long since fled!
Leaves freeze to dun:
But friends cannot turn cold
This season as of old
For him with none.
Tempests may scath;
But love cannot make smart
Again this year his heart,
Whom no heart hath.
Black is night's cope:
But death will not appal
One who, past doubtings all,
Waits in unhope.
There are lots of poems on similar lines in this book. There is one poem of Hardy's that I love, called 'The Darkling Thrush.' which was written on the last day of 1899.