These essays are arranged progressively to indicate Hardy's development as a writer and thinker, and to present the major aspects of his work as a whole, linking the poetry and the prose at all appropriate stages. They suggest that his formative thought, the product of a period of conflict between new scientific philosophy and humanism on the one hand, and traditional Christian theology combined with Victorian restraints on the other, developed when England was not as intellectually provincial as Matthew Arnold had affirmed. Above all, they illustrate the extent to which the creative imagination and the style of Hardy the writer were stimulated and strengthened by literary influences.

Though it gives separate treatment to genres such as idylls, epistolary poems, and popular dramatic monologues, this major assessment of Tennyson's work is broadly chronological. His variety of interest and the excellence of his later poetry are emphasized (most of the significant contributions to Idylls of the King belong to the final period of its development). Observing due proportion as far as possible, this perceptive and unusually comprehensive survey assesses the literary merits of Tennyson and the modern significance of his ideas. Its value is enhanced by a detailed biographical introduction and a generous selection of illustrations.

Though it gives separate treatment to genres such as idylls, epistolary poems, and popular dramatic monologues, this major assessment of Tennyson's work is broadly chronological. His variety of interest and the excellence of his later poetry are emphasized (most of the significant contributions to Idylls of the King belong to the final period of its development). Observing due proportion as far as possible, this perceptive and unusually comprehensive survey assesses the literary merits of Tennyson and the modern significance of his ideas. Its value is enhanced by a detailed biographical introduction and a generous selection of illustrations.