“I Met a Man”
I MET a man when night was nigh,Who said, with shining face and eyeLike Moses’ after Sinai:—
“I have seen the Moulder of Monarchies,Realms, peoples, plains and hills,Sitting upon the sunlit seas!—And, as He sat, soliloquiesFell from Him like an antiphonic breezeThat pricks the waves to thrills.
“Meseemed that of the maimed and deadMown down upon the globe,—Their plenteous blooms of promise shedEre fruiting-time—His words were said,Sitting against the western web of redWrapt in His crimson robe.
“And I could catch them now and then:—‘Why let these gambling clansOf human Cockers, pit liege menFrom mart and city, dale and glen,In death-mains, but to swell and swell againTheir swollen All-Empery plans,
“‘When a mere nod (if my malignCompeer but passive keep)Would mend that old mistake of mineI made with Saul, and ever consignAll Lords of War whose sanctuaries enshrineLiberticide, to sleep?
“‘With violence the lands are spreadEven as in Israel’s day,And it repenteth me I bredChartered armipotents lust-ledTo feuds . . . Yea, grieves my heart, as then I said,To see their evil way!’
—“The utterance grew, and flapped like flame,And further speech I feared;But no Celestial tongued acclaim,And no huzzas from earthlings came,And the heavens mutely masked as ’twere in shameTill daylight disappeared.”
Thus ended he as night rode high—The man of shining face and eye,Like Moses’ after Sinai.
Words in this poem 15
- moulder n.
- One who, or that which, molds or forms into shape; specifically (Founding), one skilled in the art of making molds for castings.
- sunlit a.
- Lighted by the sun.
- mown p. p.
- Cut down by mowing, as grass; deprived of grass by mowing; as, a mown field.
- liege a.
- Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance; as, a liege lord. [OE. lige, lege, F. lige, LL. ligius, legius, liege, unlimited, complete, prob. of German origin; cf. G. ledig free from bonds and obstacles, MHG. ledec, ledic, ]
- mart v. t.
- To buy or sell in, or as in, a mart.
- compeer
- An equal, as in rank, age, prowess, etc.; a companion; a comrade; a mate. [OE. comper, through French fr. L. compar; com- + par equal. See Peer an equal, and cf. 1st Compare.]
- consign v. i.
- To submit; to surrender or yield one's self.
- enshrine v. t.
- To inclose in a shrine or chest; hence, to preserve or cherish as something sacred; as, to enshrine something in memory.
- liberticide n.
- The destruction of civil liberty. [L. libertas liberty + caedere to kill: cf. (for sense 2) F. liberticide.]
- chartered a.
- Granted or established by charter; having, or existing under, a charter; having a privilege by charter.
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- acclaim v. i.
- To shout applause.
- mutely adv.
- Without uttering words or sounds; in a mute manner; silently.
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
“I Met a Man” 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, “I Met a Man”, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/i-met-a-man.html, id L24247.
Form and metre
“I Met a Man” is 42 lines in 8 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAAAB, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AAA nighA · eyeA · sinaiA
- 2 ABAAAB monarchiesA · hillsB · seasA · soliloquiesA · breezeA · thrillsB
- 3 ABAAAB deadA · globeB · shedA · saidA · redA · robeB
- 4 ABAAAB thenA · clansB · menA · glenA · againA · plansB
- 5 ABAAAB malignA · keepB · mineA · consignA · enshrineA · sleepB
- 6 ABAAAB spreadA · dayB · bredA · ledA · saidA · wayB
- 7 ABAAAB flameA · fearedB · acclaimA · cameA · shameA · disappearedB
- 8 AAA highA · eyeA · sinaiA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I MET a man when night was nigh, | 8 | ········ |
| Who said, with shining face and eye | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like Moses’ after Sinai:— | 7 | ·/˘··/· |
| “I have seen the Moulder of Monarchies, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Realms, peoples, plains and hills, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Sitting upon the sunlit seas!— | 8 | /˘···/·· |
| And, as He sat, soliloquies | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Fell from Him like an antiphonic breeze | 10 | ·········· |
| That pricks the waves to thrills. | 6 | ······ |
| “Meseemed that of the maimed and dead | 8 | ········ |
| Mown down upon the globe,— | 6 | ······ |
| Their plenteous blooms of promise shed | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Ere fruiting-time—His words were said, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sitting against the western web of red | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Wrapt in His crimson robe. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “And I could catch them now and then: | 8 | ········ |
| —‘Why let these gambling clans | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Of human Cockers, pit liege men | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| From mart and city, dale and glen, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In death-mains, but to swell and swell again | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Their swollen All-Empery plans, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| “‘When a mere nod (if my malign | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Compeer but passive keep) | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Would mend that old mistake of mine | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| I made with Saul, and ever consign | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| All Lords of War whose sanctuaries enshrine | 11 | ·····/˘·˘˘/ |
| Liberticide, to sleep? | 6 | /˘˘˘·· |
| “‘With violence the lands are spread | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Even as in Israel’s day, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And it repenteth me I bred | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Chartered armipotents lust-led | 8 | /˘······ |
| To feuds . . . Yea, grieves my heart, as then I said, | 10 | ·········· |
| To see their evil way!’ | 6 | ···/˘· |
| —“The utterance grew, and flapped like flame, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And further speech I feared; | 7 | ·/˘···˘ |
| But no Celestial tongued acclaim, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| And no huzzas from earthlings came, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the heavens mutely masked as ’twere in shame | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| Till daylight disappeared.” | 7 | ·/··˘/˘ |
| Thus ended he as night rode high— | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The man of shining face and eye, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like Moses’ after Sinai. | 7 | ·/˘··/· |
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