“My argument is that War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading.”
Pt. II, sc. v, Spirit Sinister
The Dynasts (1904–1908)
Quotes from workThe Dynasts
The Dynasts is an English-language closet drama in verse by Thomas Hardy. Hardy himself described this work as "an epic-drama of the war with Napoleon, in three parts, nineteen acts and one hundred and thirty scenes". Not counting the Forescene and the Afterscene, the exact total number of scenes is 131. The three parts were published in 1904, 1906 and 1908.
Pt. I, forescene, Shade of the Earth & Spirit of the Years
The Dynasts (1904–1908)
“Aggressive Fancy working spells
Upon a mind o’erwrought.”
Pt. I, sc. vi, Napoleon
The Dynasts (1904–1908)
“Why doth IT so and so, and ever so,
This viewless, voiceless Turner of the Wheel?”
Pt. I, forescene, Spirit of the Pities
The Dynasts (1904–1908)
“Ere systemed suns were globed and lit
The slaughters of the race were writ.”
Pt. II, sc. v, Semichorus I
The Dynasts (1904–1908)
