"Flowers / As Flourish Best Untrained": Hardy's Openings.

The article focuses on how Thomas Hardy uses formal "openings" or ruptures in literary structure to explore tensions between habit, freedom, order, and unpredictability in his works. Topics include formal experimentation in Hardy's poetry, the relationship between habit and free will in his narratives, and the role of rhythm, structure, and disruption in texts such as The Trumpet Major.