(By permission of the Author, Thomas Hardy, O.M.)
Part I, Act V., Scenes 2 and 4
The Battle of Trafalgar, and The Death of Nelson

The Chief Characters introduced are:
Lord Nelson
Secretary Scott
Captain Hardy
and Doctor Beatty
Scene 1. The Quarter Deck of the Victory
Scene 2. The Cockpit of the Victory

Not the least remarkable fact about the great reputation of Thomas Hardy - who may fairly be called the doyen of English literature - is that after making himself famous as the author of some of the greatest novels in the language ("Tess of the d'Urbervilles" in particular has become a classic in the generation that has elapsed since it was published), he turned to the writing of epic drama and lyric verse, and built up a second reputation that need not suffer from comparison with the first. The three parts of "The Dynasts" one of the few works on the epic scale conceived and carried out in our time, were published between 1903 and 1908, and since then Mr. Hardy has confined himself to writing lyrics and a play.