Record Number: 33038

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

‘Thanks very much indeed for the letter and Lit. Sups, and especially for "Satires of Circumstance". I had not got it or ordered it but had often been thinking of doing so. So it came most welcomely … Needless to say, I do not agree with your criticism’s of [Hardy’s] later work. The actual “Satires of Circumstance” which come in the middle of the book I thought bad poetry. But I think you are too hard on the rest … I have been lately reading a great deal of "The Dynasts", which I bought three weeks ago. His poetry there is at its very best, especially in the choruses and battle-songs … I cannot help thinking that Hardy is the greatest artist of the English character since Shakespeare: and much of "The Dynasts" (except its historical fidelity) might be Shakespeare … His lyrics have not the spontaneity of Shakespeare’s or Shelley’s: they are rough-hewn and jagged: but I like them, and they stick.’

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 7 Nov 1914 and 30 Nov 1914

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Cheriton
county: Kent
specific address: Shorncliffe Camp

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

---

Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Charles Hamilton Sorley

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

19 May 1895

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

2/Lt, 7th Suffolk Regiment

Religion:

Christian by schooling, (no specified beliefs)

Country of Origin:

Scotland

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

Thomas Hardy

Title:

The Dynasts: A Drama of the Napoleonic Wars

Genre:

Drama, Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

33038

Source:

Print

Author:

Charles Hamilton Sorley

Editor:

Jean Moorcroft Wilson

Title:

The Collected Letters of Charles Hamilton Sorley

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1990

Vol:

n/a

Page:

204-205

Additional Comments:

Letter to parents, 30 November 1914, Shorncliffe

Citation:

Charles Hamilton Sorley, Jean Moorcroft Wilson (ed.), The Collected Letters of Charles Hamilton Sorley, (London, 1990), p. 204-205, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33038, accessed: 24 April 2024

---

Additional Comments:

None