“Often When Warring”
OFTEN when warring for he wist not what,An enemy-soldier, passing by one weak,Has tendered water, wiped the burning cheek,And cooled the lips so black and clammed and hot;
Then gone his way, and maybe quite forgotThe deed of grace amid the roar and reek;Yet larger vision than loud arms bespeakHe there has reached, although he has known it not.
For natural mindsight, triumphing in the actOver the throes of artificial rage,Has thuswise muffled victory’s peal of pride,Rended to ribands policy’s specious pageThat deals but with evasion, code, and pact,And war’s apology wholly stultified.
Words in this poem
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- 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]
- reek n.
- A rick. B. Jonson.
- bespeak v. t.
- To speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage against a future time; as, to bespeak goods, a right, or a favor. [OE. bispeken, AS. besprecan, to speak to, accuse; pref. be- + sprecan to speak. See Speak.]
- triumphing a.
- Having or celebrating a triumph; victorious; triumphant.
- peal v. i.
- To appeal. Spencer.
- pact n.
- An agreement; a league; a compact; a covenant. [L. pactum, fr. paciscere to make a bargain or contract, fr. pacere to settle, or agree upon; cf. pangere to fasten, Gr. paca bond, and E. fang: cf. F. pacie. Cf]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
“Often When Warring” 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, “Often When Warring”, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/often-when-warring.html, id L24242.
Form and metre
“Often When Warring” is 14 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 -AA- what · weakA · cheekA · hot
- 2 ABBA forgotA · reekB · bespeakB · notA
- 3 ABCBAC actA · rageB · prideC · pageB · pactA · stultifiedC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OFTEN when warring for he wist not what, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| An enemy-soldier, passing by one weak, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Has tendered water, wiped the burning cheek, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And cooled the lips so black and clammed and hot; | 10 | ·········· |
| Then gone his way, and maybe quite forgot | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The deed of grace amid the roar and reek; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Yet larger vision than loud arms bespeak | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| He there has reached, although he has known it not. | 11 | ··········· |
| For natural mindsight, triumphing in the act | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Over the throes of artificial rage, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Has thuswise muffled victory’s peal of pride, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Rended to ribands policy’s specious page | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| That deals but with evasion, code, and pact, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And war’s apology wholly stultified. | 10 | ··˘/˘˘/˘·· |
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.