He Fears His Good Fortune
THERE was a glorious timeAt an epoch of my prime;Mornings beryl-bespread,And evenings golden-red;Nothing gray:And in my heart I said,“However this chanced to be,It is too full for me,Too rare, too rapturous, rash,Its spell must close with a crashSome day!”
The radiance went onAnon and yet anon,And sweetness fell aroundLike manna on the ground.“I’ve no claim,”Said I, “to be thus crowned:I am not worthy this:—Must it not go amiss?—Well . . . let the end foreseenCome duly!—I am serene.”—And it came.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- foreseen conj.
- , or (strictly) p. p. Provided; in case that; on condition that.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
He Fears His Good Fortune 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, He Fears His Good Fortune, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/he-fears-his-good-fortune.html, id L24200.
Form and metre
He Fears His Good Fortune is 22 lines in 2 stanzas of 11 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AABBCBDDEEC timeA · primeA · bespreadB · redB · grayC · saidB · beD · meD · rashE · crashE · dayC
- 2 --AABACCDDB on · anon · aroundA · groundA · claimB · crownedA · thisC · amissC · foreseenD · sereneD · cameB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THERE was a glorious time | 6 | ···/˘· |
| At an epoch of my prime; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Mornings beryl-bespread, | 6 | /˘/˘˘/ |
| And evenings golden-red; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Nothing gray: | 3 | /˘· |
| And in my heart I said, | 6 | ······ |
| “However this chanced to be, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| It is too full for me, | 6 | ······ |
| Too rare, too rapturous, rash, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Its spell must close with a crash | 7 | ······· |
| Some day!” | 2 | ·· |
| The radiance went on | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Anon and yet anon, | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| And sweetness fell around | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Like manna on the ground. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| “I’ve no claim,” | 3 | ··· |
| Said I, “to be thus crowned: | 6 | ······ |
| I am not worthy this:— | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Must it not go amiss?— | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Well . . . let the end foreseen | 6 | ·····/ |
| Come duly!—I am serene.” | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| —And it came. | 3 | ··· |
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