Hardy’s later novels—the ones now considered his greatest work—were part of a mid-to-late 19th-century genre known as Naturalism, a movement that believed that Realist fiction should portray the darker elements of life without obfuscation or euphemism. Hardy’s Naturalist works were bleak in tone, questioning Victorian sexual morality, criticizing the unjustness of the upper class, and doubting the benevolence of God. This pessimism honesty scandalized Victorian sensibilities, making these latter novels deeply unpopular on publication.

Scholars believe Hardy turned to poetry in the 1890s because of the growing negative reception of his fiction. However, while his poems also tackled themes of regret and pain, the irrevocable passage of time, and the fragility of humanity, they were positively received and widely liked. These themes are present in “The Convergence of the Twain” (1914), his commemorative poem on the sinking of the Titanic.

Hardy’s take on Realism, and resistance to sentimentally, drew many younger writers to emulate him, especially as they faced horrors of their own, including World War I. Hardy’s skill as a poet was lauded by such writers as William Butler Yeats, Virginia Woolf, Siegfried Sassoon, Ezra Pound, D.