This conclusion chapter re-summarises the main themes and issues of the book as a whole and considers the overall relevance for our understanding of Hardy’s thought and work. By continually being juxtaposed with transience, the vibrancy of existence is emphasised in Hardy’s poetry, including the power of youth and beauty, and the importance of enjoying ordinary pastimes. Hardy’s poems contain the hopeful sense that all lifeforms, and indeed human cultural works such as art, literature, and music are part of a vital continuum. The chapter concludes by re-stating, through a final analysis of poems such as “Proud Songsters” (1928) and “A Young Man's Exhortation” (1922), that four significant aspects of Hardy’s thought – the natural world, love and passion, human relations, and art - provide a new way of reading his poetry, enriching our sense of what it offers us. While unflinchingly facing the painful reality of the human condition, Hardy’s complex poems also celebrate life’s essential aspects, giving us an important mental coping mechanism which can sustain and cheer us. Further, his life-affirming poetry affords us an optimistic way of appreciating and enjoying its most vital aspects.