In Time of Wars and Tumults
“WOULD that I’d not drawn breath here!” some one said,“To stalk upon this stage of evil deeds,Where purposelessly month by month proceedsA play so sorely shaped and blood-bespread.”
Yet had his spark not quickened, but lain deadTo the gross spectacles of this our day,And never put on the proffered cloak of clay,He had but known not things now manifested;
Life would have swirled the same. Morns would have dawnedOn the uprooting by the night-gun’s strokeOf what the yester noonshine brought to flower;
Brown martial brows in dying throes have wannedDespite his absence; hearts no fewer been brokeBy Empery’s insatiate lust of power.
Words in this poem
- sorely adv.
- In a sore manner; grievously; painfully; as, to be sorely afflicted.
- yester a.
- Last; last past; next before; of or pertaining to yesterday. [See Yesterday.]
- wanned a.
- Made wan, or pale.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- insatiate a.
- Insatiable; as, insatiate thirst. [L. insatiatus.]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In Time of Wars and Tumults 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, In Time of Wars and Tumults, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/in-time-of-wars-and-tumults.html, id L24239.
Form and metre
In Time of Wars and Tumults is 14 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic 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 ABBA saidA · deedsB · proceedsB · bespreadA
- 2 ACC- deadA · dayC · clayC · manifested
- 3 -DE dawned · strokeD · flowerE
- 4 -DE wanned · brokeD · powerE
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| “WOULD that I’d not drawn breath here!” some one said, | 10 | ·········· |
| “To stalk upon this stage of evil deeds, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where purposelessly month by month proceeds | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| A play so sorely shaped and blood-bespread.” | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Yet had his spark not quickened, but lain dead | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To the gross spectacles of this our day, | 10 | ···/˘˘··/· |
| And never put on the proffered cloak of clay, | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| He had but known not things now manifested; | 11 | ·······/˘·˘ |
| Life would have swirled the same. Morns would have dawned | 10 | ·········· |
| On the uprooting by the night-gun’s stroke | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Of what the yester noonshine brought to flower; | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Brown martial brows in dying throes have wanned | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Despite his absence; hearts no fewer been broke | 11 | ˘/·/˘··/˘·· |
| By Empery’s insatiate lust of power. | 11 | ····˘/˘˘··/ |
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.