At a Country Fair
At a bygone Western country fairI saw a giant led by a dwarfWith a red string like a long thin scarf;How much he was the stronger thereThe giant seemed unaware.
And then I saw that the giant was blind,And the dwarf a shrewd-eyed little thing;The giant, mild, timid, obeyed the stringAs if he had no independent mind,Or will of any kind.
Wherever the dwarf decided to goAt his heels the other trotted meekly,(Perhaps—I know not—reproaching weakly)Like one Fate bade that it must be so,Whether he wished or no.
Various sights in various climesI have seen, and more I may see yet,But that sight never shall I forget,And have thought it the sorriest of pantomimes,If once, a hundred times!
Words in this poem
- bygone n.
- Something gone by or past; a past event.
- unaware a.
- Not aware; not noticing; giving no heed; thoughtless; inattentive.
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- meekly adv.
- In a meek manner.
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At a Country Fair 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, At a Country Fair, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/at-a-country-fair.html, id L24192.
Form and metre
At a Country Fair is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBAA, complete in 3 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 A--AA fairA · dwarf · scarf · thereA · unawareA
- 2 ABBAA blindA · thingB · stringB · mindA · kindA
- 3 ABBAA goA · meeklyB · weaklyB · soA · noA
- 4 ABBAA climesA · yetB · forgetB · pantomimesA · timesA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| At a bygone Western country fair | 9 | ··/·/˘/˘· |
| I saw a giant led by a dwarf | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| With a red string like a long thin scarf; | 9 | ········· |
| How much he was the stronger there | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The giant seemed unaware. | 8 | ·/˘·˘·˘/ |
| And then I saw that the giant was blind, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| And the dwarf a shrewd-eyed little thing; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The giant, mild, timid, obeyed the string | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘/·· |
| As if he had no independent mind, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Or will of any kind. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Wherever the dwarf decided to go | 10 | ˘/˘··˘/˘·· |
| At his heels the other trotted meekly, | 10 | ····/˘/˘/˘ |
| (Perhaps—I know not—reproaching weakly) | 10 | ˘/···˘/˘/˘ |
| Like one Fate bade that it must be so, | 9 | ········· |
| Whether he wished or no. | 7 | ····˘·· |
| Various sights in various climes | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| I have seen, and more I may see yet, | 9 | ········· |
| But that sight never shall I forget, | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| And have thought it the sorriest of pantomimes, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| If once, a hundred times! | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
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.