At Madame Tussaud’s in Victorian Years
“THAT same first fiddler who leads the orchéstra to-nightHere fiddled four decades of years ago;He bears the same babe-like smile of self-centred delight,Same trinket on watch-chain, same ring on the hand with the bow.
“But his face, if regarded, is woefully wanner, and drier,And his once dark beard has grown straggling and gray;Yet a blissful existence he seems to have led with his lyre,In a trance of his own, where no wearing or tearing had sway.
“Mid these wax figures, who nothing can do, it may seemThat to do but a little thing counts a great deal;To be watched by kings, councillors, queens, may be flattering to him—With their glass eyes longing they too could wake notes that appeal.”
Ah, but he played staunchly—that fiddler—whoever he was,With the innocent heart and the soul-touching string:May he find the Fair Haven! For did he not smile with good cause?Yes; gamuts that graced forty years’-flight were not a small thing!
Words in this poem
- fiddler n.
- One who plays on a fiddle or violin. [AS. fi.]
- trinket v. i.
- To give trinkets; hence, to court favor; to intrigue.
- woefully adv.
- In a woeful manner; sorrowfully; mournfully; miserably; dolefully.
- drier n.
- One who, or that which, dries; that which may expel or absorb moisture; a desiccative; as, the sun and a northwesterly wind are great driers of the earth.
- straggling a.
- from Straggle, v.
- blissful a.
- Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
- whoever pron.
- Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At Madame Tussaud’s in Victorian Years 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 Madame Tussaud’s in Victorian Years, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/at-madame-tussaud-s-in-victorian-years.html, id L24179.
Form and metre
At Madame Tussaud’s in Victorian Years is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 ABAB nightA · agoB · delightA · bowB
- 2 -A-A drier · grayA · lyre · swayA
- 3 -A-A seem · dealA · him · appealA
- 4 ABAB wasA · stringB · causeA · thingB
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 anapaestic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| “THAT same first fiddler who leads the orchéstra to-night | 13 | ···/˘········ |
| Here fiddled four decades of years ago; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| He bears the same babe-like smile of self-centred delight, | 13 | ·········/˘˘/ |
| Same trinket on watch-chain, same ring on the hand with the bow. | 14 | ·/˘··········· |
| “But his face, if regarded, is woefully wanner, and drier, | 14 | ····˘/˘·/˘/˘·/ |
| And his once dark beard has grown straggling and gray; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Yet a blissful existence he seems to have led with his lyre, | 15 | ··/˘˘/˘········ |
| In a trance of his own, where no wearing or tearing had sway. | 15 | ········/˘·/˘·· |
| “Mid these wax figures, who nothing can do, it may seem | 13 | ···/˘·/˘····· |
| That to do but a little thing counts a great deal; | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| To be watched by kings, councillors, queens, may be flattering to him— | 15 | ···········/˘·· |
| With their glass eyes longing they too could wake notes that appeal.” | 14 | ····/˘······˘/ |
| Ah, but he played staunchly—that fiddler—whoever he was, | 14 | ····/˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| With the innocent heart and the soul-touching string: | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| May he find the Fair Haven! For did he not smile with good cause? | 15 | ·····/˘········ |
| Yes; gamuts that graced forty years’-flight were not a small thing! | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
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.