Old Excursions
“WHAT’S the good of going to Ridgeway,Cerne, or Sydling Mill,Or to Yell’ham Hill,Blithely bearing Casterbridge-wayAs we used to do?She will no more climb up there,Or be visible anywhereIn those haunts we knew.”
But to-night, while walking weary,Near me seemed her shade,Come as ’twere to upbraidThis my mood in deeming drearyScenes that used to please;And, if she did come to me,Still solicitous, there may beGood in going to these.
So, I’ll care to roam to Ridgeway,Cerne, or Sydling Mill,Or to Yell’ham Hill,Blithely bearing Casterbridge-wayAs we used to do,Since her phasm may flit out there,And may greet me anywhereIn those haunts we knew.
Words in this poem
- blithely adv.
- In a blithe manner.
- upbraid n.
- The act of reproaching; contumely.
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- phasm n.
- An apparition; a phantom; an appearance. Hammond. Sir T. [L. phasma, Gr. Phase.]
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Old Excursions 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, Old Excursions, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/old-excursions.html, id L24212.
Form and metre
Old Excursions is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBACDDC. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABBACDDC ridgewayA · millB · hillB · wayA · doC · thereD · anywhereD · knewC
- 2 ABBACDDC wearyA · shadeB · upbraidB · drearyA · pleaseC · meD · beD · theseC
- 3 ABBACDDC ridgewayA · millB · hillB · wayA · doC · thereD · anywhereD · knewC
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| “WHAT’S the good of going to Ridgeway, | 8 | ····/·/· |
| Cerne, or Sydling Mill, | 5 | ····· |
| Or to Yell’ham Hill, | 5 | ····· |
| Blithely bearing Casterbridge-way | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| As we used to do? | 5 | ····· |
| She will no more climb up there, | 7 | ······· |
| Or be visible anywhere | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| In those haunts we knew.” | 5 | ····· |
| But to-night, while walking weary, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Near me seemed her shade, | 5 | ····· |
| Come as ’twere to upbraid | 6 | ····/· |
| This my mood in deeming dreary | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Scenes that used to please; | 5 | ····· |
| And, if she did come to me, | 7 | ······· |
| Still solicitous, there may be | 8 | ·˘/˘˘··· |
| Good in going to these. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| So, I’ll care to roam to Ridgeway, | 8 | ······/· |
| Cerne, or Sydling Mill, | 5 | ····· |
| Or to Yell’ham Hill, | 5 | ····· |
| Blithely bearing Casterbridge-way | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| As we used to do, | 5 | ····· |
| Since her phasm may flit out there, | 7 | ······· |
| And may greet me anywhere | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In those haunts we knew. | 5 | ····· |
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.