Honeymoon Time at an Inn
AT the shiver of morning, a little before the false dawn,The moon was at the window-square,Deedily brooding in deformed decay—The curve hewn off her cheek as by an adze;At the shiver of morning a little before the false dawnSo the moon looked in there.
Her speechless eyeing reached across the chamber,Where lay two souls opprest,One a white lady sighing, “Why am I sad!”To him who sighed back, “Sad, my Love, am I!”And speechlessly the old moon conned the chamber,And these two reft of rest.
While their large-pupilled vision swept the scene there,Nought seeming imminent,Something fell sheer, and crashed, and from the floorLay glittering at the pair with a shattered gaze,While their large-pupilled vision swept the scene there,And the many-eyed thing outleant.
With a start they saw that it was an old-time pier-glassWhich had stood on the mantel near,Its silvering blemished,—yes, as if worn awayBy the eyes of the countless dead who had smirked at itEre these two ever knew that old-time pier-glassAnd its vague and vacant leer.
As he looked, his bride like a moth skimmed forth, and kneelingQuick, with quivering sighs,Gathered the pieces under the moon’s sly ray,Unwitting as an automaton what she did;Till he entreated, hasting to where she was kneeling,“Let it stay where it lies!”
“Long years of sorrow this means!” breathed the ladyAs they retired. “Alas!”And she lifted one pale hand across her eyes.“Don’t trouble, Love; it’s nothing,” the bridegroom said.“Long years of sorrow for us!” murmured the lady,“Or ever this evil pass!”
And the Spirits Ironic laughed behind the wainscot,And the Spirits of Pity sighed.“It’s good,” said the Spirits Ironic, “to tickle their mindsWith a portent of their wedlock’s after-grinds.”And the Spirits of Pity sighed behind the wainscot,“It’s a portent we cannot abide!
“More, what shall happen to prove the truth of the portent?”—“Oh; in brief, they will fade till old,And their loves grow numbed ere death, by the cark of care.”—“But nought see we that asks for portents there?—’Tis the lot of all.”—“Well, no less true is a portentThat it fits all mortal mould.”
Words in this poem 15
- adze n.
- A carpenter's or cooper's tool, formed with a thin arching blade set at right angles to the handle. It is used for chipping or slicing away the surface of wood. [OE. adese, adis, adse, AS. adesa, adese, ax, hatchet.]
- speechless a.
- Destitute or deprived of the faculty of speech.
- reft n.
- A chink; a rift. See Rift. Rom. of R.
- imminent a.
- Threatening to occur immediately; near at hand; impending; -- said especially of misfortune or peril. [L. imminens, p. pr. of imminere to project; pref. im- in + minere (in comp.) to jut, project. See Eminent.]
- countless a.
- Incapable of being counted; not ascertainable; innumerable.
- unwitting a.
- Not knowing; unconscious; ignorant.
- automaton n.
- Any thing or being regarded as having the power of spontaneous motion or action. Huxley. [L. fr. Gr. ma, man, to strive, think, cf. Mean, v. i.]
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- ironic a.
- Ironical. Sir T. Herbert.
- wainscot n.
- Oaken timber or boarding. [OD. waeghe-schot, D. wagen-schot, a clapboard, fr. OD. waeg, weeg, a wall (akin to AS. wah; cf. Icel. veggr) + schot a covering of boards (akin to E. shot, shoo]
- tickle a.
- Ticklish; easily tickled.
- portent n.
- That which portends, or foretoken; esp., that which portends evil; a sign of coming calamity; an omen; a sign. [L. portentum. See Portend.]
- 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,]
- cark n.
- A noxious or corroding care; solicitude; worry. [OE. cark, fr. a dialectic form of F. charge; cf. W. carc anxiety, care, Arm karg charge, burden. See Charge, and cf. Cargo.]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Honeymoon Time at an Inn 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, Honeymoon Time at an Inn, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/honeymoon-time-at-an-inn.html, id L24207.
Form and metre
Honeymoon Time at an Inn is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABCCAB, in 2 of the 8 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
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 AB--AB dawnA · squareB · decay · adze · dawnA · thereB
- 2 AB--AB chamberA · opprestB · sad · i · chamberA · restB
- 3 AB--AB thereA · imminentB · floor · gaze · thereA · outleantB
- 4 AB--AB glassA · nearB · away · it · glassA · leerB
- 5 AB--AB kneelingA · sighsB · ray · did · kneelingA · liesB
- 6 AB--AB ladyA · alasB · eyes · said · ladyA · passB
- 7 ABCCAB wainscotA · sighedB · mindsC · grindsC · wainscotA · abideB
- 8 ABCCAB portentA · oldB · careC · thereC · portentA · mouldB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AT the shiver of morning, a little before the false dawn, | 15 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘····· |
| The moon was at the window-square, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Deedily brooding in deformed decay— | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘/ |
| The curve hewn off her cheek as by an adze; | 10 | ·········· |
| At the shiver of morning a little before the false dawn | 15 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘····· |
| So the moon looked in there. | 7 | ····˘·· |
| Her speechless eyeing reached across the chamber, | 11 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Where lay two souls opprest, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| One a white lady sighing, “Why am I sad!” | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| To him who sighed back, “Sad, my Love, am I!” | 10 | ·········· |
| And speechlessly the old moon conned the chamber, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And these two reft of rest. | 6 | ······ |
| While their large-pupilled vision swept the scene there, | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| Nought seeming imminent, | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Something fell sheer, and crashed, and from the floor | 10 | /˘········ |
| Lay glittering at the pair with a shattered gaze, | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| While their large-pupilled vision swept the scene there, | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| And the many-eyed thing outleant. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| With a start they saw that it was an old-time pier-glass | 13 | ············· |
| Which had stood on the mantel near, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Its silvering blemished,—yes, as if worn away | 11 | ·/˘/˘····˘/ |
| By the eyes of the countless dead who had smirked at it | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| Ere these two ever knew that old-time pier-glass | 10 | ···/······ |
| And its vague and vacant leer. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| As he looked, his bride like a moth skimmed forth, and kneeling | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| Quick, with quivering sighs, | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Gathered the pieces under the moon’s sly ray, | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| Unwitting as an automaton what she did; | 12 | ˘/˘··˘/˘···· |
| Till he entreated, hasting to where she was kneeling, | 13 | ·····/˘····/˘ |
| “Let it stay where it lies!” | 6 | ······ |
| “Long years of sorrow this means!” breathed the lady | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| As they retired. “Alas!” | 7 | ··˘/˘˘/ |
| And she lifted one pale hand across her eyes. | 11 | ··/˘···˘/·· |
| “Don’t trouble, Love; it’s nothing,” the bridegroom said. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘·/·· |
| “Long years of sorrow for us!” murmured the lady, | 12 | ···/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| “Or ever this evil pass!” | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| And the Spirits Ironic laughed behind the wainscot, | 13 | ··/˘˘/˘····/˘ |
| And the Spirits of Pity sighed. | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| “It’s good,” said the Spirits Ironic, “to tickle their minds | 14 | ····/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| With a portent of their wedlock’s after-grinds.” | 11 | ··/˘··/···· |
| And the Spirits of Pity sighed behind the wainscot, | 13 | ··/˘·/˘····/˘ |
| “It’s a portent we cannot abide! | 9 | ··/˘·˘/˘/ |
| “More, what shall happen to prove the truth of the portent?” | 13 | ···/˘······/˘ |
| —“Oh; in brief, they will fade till old, | 8 | ········ |
| And their loves grow numbed ere death, by the cark of care.” | 12 | ············ |
| —“But nought see we that asks for portents there?— | 10 | ·······/·· |
| ’Tis the lot of all.”—“Well, no less true is a portent | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| That it fits all mortal mould.” | 7 | ····/˘· |
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