Hardy's Near-Death at Birth
Poet involved
What happened
Thomas Hardy was born on June 2, 1840, in the cob and thatch cottage at Higher Bockhampton, Dorset. He was initially thought to be stillborn and was saved only by the midwife's watchfulness, a precarious beginning that marked him for life.
Literary impact
This brush with death at the very moment of birth instilled in Hardy a profound and lifelong preoccupation with fate, chance, and the fragility of human existence. The sense of life's precariousness became a central theme in his poetry and novels, shaping his tragically ironic vision of a universe governed by indifferent forces.
