At the Wicket-Gate
THERE floated the sounds of church-chiming,But no one was nigh,Till there came, as a break in the loneness,Her father, she, I.And we slowly moved on to the wicket,And downlooking stood,Till anon people passed, and amid themWe parted for good.
Greater, wiser, may part there than we threeWho parted there then,But never will Fates colder-featuredHold sway there again.Of the churchgoers through the still meadowsNo single one knewWhat a play was played under their eyes thereAs thence we withdrew.
Words in this poem
- loneness n.
- Solitude; seclusion. Donne.
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At the Wicket-Gate 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 the Wicket-Gate, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/at-the-wicket-gate.html, id L24103.
Form and metre
At the Wicket-Gate is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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-A-B-B chiming · nighA · loneness · iA · wicket · stoodB · them · goodB
- 2 -A-A-B-B three · thenA · featured · againA · meadows · knewB · there · withdrewB
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THERE floated the sounds of church-chiming, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| But no one was nigh, | 5 | ····· |
| Till there came, as a break in the loneness, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Her father, she, I. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And we slowly moved on to the wicket, | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| And downlooking stood, | 5 | ····· |
| Till anon people passed, and amid them | 10 | ·˘//˘··˘/· |
| We parted for good. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Greater, wiser, may part there than we three | 9 | /˘/······ |
| Who parted there then, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| But never will Fates colder-featured | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Hold sway there again. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Of the churchgoers through the still meadows | 10 | ··/·˘···/· |
| No single one knew | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| What a play was played under their eyes there | 10 | ·········· |
| As thence we withdrew. | 5 | ···˘/ |
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.