Afterwards
WHEN the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay,And the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings,Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk, will the neighbours say,“He was a man who used to notice such things”?
If it be in the dusk when, like an eyelid’s soundless blink,The dewfall-hawk comes crossing the shades to alightUpon the wind-warped upland thorn, a gazer may think,“To him this must have been a familiar sight.”
If I pass during some nocturnal blackness, mothy and warm,When the hedgehog travels furtively over the lawn,One may say, “He strove that such innocent creatures should come to noharm,But he could do little for them; and now he is gone”?
If, when hearing that I have been stilled at last, they stand at thedoor,Watching the full-starred heavens that winter sees,Will this thought rise on those who will meet my face no more,“He was one who had an eye for such mysteries”?
And will any say when my bell of quittance is heard in the gloom,And a crossing breeze cuts a pause in its outrollings,Till they rise again, as they were a new bell’s boom,“He hears it not now, but used to notice such things”?
Words in this poem
- postern n.
- Originally, a back door or gate; a private entrance; hence, any small door or gate. [OF. posterne, posterle, F. poterne, fr. L. posterula, fr. posterus coming after. See Posterior.]
- soundless a.
- Not capable of being sounded or fathomed; unfathomable.
- blink v. i.
- To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye. [OE. blenken; akin to dan. blinke, Sw. blinka, G. blinken to shine, glance, wink, twinkle, D. blinken to shine; and prob. to D. blikken to glance, twinkle, G. bl]
- dewfall n.
- The falling of dew; the time when dew begins to fall.
- mothy a.
- Infested with moths; moth-eaten.
- furtively adv.
- Stealthily by theft. Lover.
- quittance v. t.
- To repay; to requite.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Afterwards is in the public domain. This text is taken from Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #3255; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hardy, Afterwards, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/afterwards.html, id L24250.
Form and metre
Afterwards is 22 lines in 5 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%).
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 ABAB stayA · wingsB · sayA · thingsB
- 2 ABAB blinkA · alightB · thinkA · sightB
- 3 -A--A warm · lawnA · no · harm · goneA
- 4 -ABAB the · doorA · seesB · moreA · mysteriesB
- 5 ABAB gloomA · outrollingsB · boomA · thingsB
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| WHEN the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay, | 15 | ··/˘···/˘···/˘· |
| And the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings, | 11 | ··········· |
| Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk, will the neighbours say, | 12 | /˘·······/˘· |
| “He was a man who used to notice such things”? | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| If it be in the dusk when, like an eyelid’s soundless blink, | 14 | ·········/·/˘· |
| The dewfall-hawk comes crossing the shades to alight | 12 | ·/˘··/˘···˘/ |
| Upon the wind-warped upland thorn, a gazer may think, | 13 | ·····/˘··/˘·· |
| “To him this must have been a familiar sight.” | 11 | ·······˘/˘· |
| If I pass during some nocturnal blackness, mothy and warm, | 15 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘/˘·· |
| When the hedgehog travels furtively over the lawn, | 11 | ··/·/˘/˘··· |
| One may say, “He strove that such innocent creatures should come to no | 15 | ·······/˘/˘···· |
| harm, | 1 | · |
| But he could do little for them; and now he is gone”? | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| If, when hearing that I have been stilled at last, they stand at the | 15 | ··/˘··········· |
| door, | 1 | · |
| Watching the full-starred heavens that winter sees, | 11 | /˘···/˘·/˘· |
| Will this thought rise on those who will meet my face no more, | 13 | ············· |
| “He was one who had an eye for such mysteries”? | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And will any say when my bell of quittance is heard in the gloom, | 16 | ··/˘·····/˘····· |
| And a crossing breeze cuts a pause in its outrollings, | 13 | ··/˘········· |
| Till they rise again, as they were a new bell’s boom, | 12 | ···˘/······· |
| “He hears it not now, but used to notice such things”? | 12 | ········/˘·· |
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