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From the dated poems we can venture certain conclusions about Hardy's career in poetry, always remembering that conclusions based on a fraction of the whole must remain tentative.

The dated poems suggest that while Hardy's concern with poetry may have been constant, his production was not.

He had two productive periods, one in the late 1860's, the other in the decade from 1910 to 1920 ( half of the dated poems are from the latter period, and these alone total about one-tenth of all Hardy's poems ).

There was one sterile period: only one poem is dated between 1872 and 1882 and, except for the poems written on the trip to Italy in 1887, very few from 1882 to 1890.