Thomas Yarnton of Tarlton
One of those old men fearing no man,Two hundred broods his eaves have knownSince they cut on a Sapperton churchyard stone--“Thomas Yarnton of Tarlton, Yeoman.”
At dusk you can hear the yeomen callingThe cattle still to Sapperton stalls,And still the stroke of the woodman fallsAs Thomas of Tarlton heard it falling.
I walked these meadows in seventeen-hundred,Seed of his loins, a dream that stirredBeyond the shape of a yeoman’s word,So faint that but unawares he wondered.
And now, from the weeds of his tomb uncomely,I travel again the tracks he made,And walks at my side the yeoman shadeOf Thomas Yarnton of Tarlton dumbly.
Words in this poem
- churchyard n.
- The ground adjoining a church, in which the dead are buried; a cemetery.
- woodman n.
- A forest officer appointed to take care of the king's woods; a forester. [Eng.]
- wondered a.
- Having performed wonders; able to perform wonderful things.
- dumbly adv.
- In silence; mutely.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Thomas Yarnton of Tarlton is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, 1908-1919, Project Gutenberg ebook #51575; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Drinkwater, Thomas Yarnton of Tarlton, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/thomas-yarnton-of-tarlton.html, id L23056.
Form and metre
Thomas Yarnton of Tarlton is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBA manA · knownB · stoneB · yeomanA
- 2 -AA- calling · stallsA · fallsA · falling
- 3 ABBA hundredA · stirredB · wordB · wonderedA
- 4 -AA- uncomely · madeA · shadeA · dumbly
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| One of those old men fearing no man, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Two hundred broods his eaves have known | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Since they cut on a Sapperton churchyard stone-- | 11 | ········/·· |
| “Thomas Yarnton of Tarlton, Yeoman.” | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| At dusk you can hear the yeomen calling | 10 | ········/˘ |
| The cattle still to Sapperton stalls, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And still the stroke of the woodman falls | 9 | ······/˘· |
| As Thomas of Tarlton heard it falling. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| I walked these meadows in seventeen-hundred, | 11 | ···/··/˘//˘ |
| Seed of his loins, a dream that stirred | 8 | ········ |
| Beyond the shape of a yeoman’s word, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| So faint that but unawares he wondered. | 10 | ·····˘/·/˘ |
| And now, from the weeds of his tomb uncomely, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| I travel again the tracks he made, | 9 | ·/˘˘/···· |
| And walks at my side the yeoman shade | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Of Thomas Yarnton of Tarlton dumbly. | 10 | ·/˘···/˘/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.