On the Belgian Expatriation
I DREAMT that people from the Land of ChimesArrived one autumn morning with their bells,To hoist them on the towers and citadelsOf my own country, that the musical rhymes
Rung by them into space at meted timesAmid the market’s daily stir and stress,And the night’s empty star-lit silentness,Might solace souls of this and kindred climes.
Then I awoke; and lo, before me stoodThe visioned ones, but pale and full of fear;From Bruges they came, and Antwerp, and Ostend,
No carillons in their train. Foes of mad moodHad shattered these to shards amid the gearOf ravaged roof, and smouldering gable-end.
Words in this poem
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- 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]
- silentness n.
- State of being silent; silence.
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
- visioned a.
- Having the power of seeing visions; inspired; also, seen in visions. Shelley.
- ostend v. t.
- To exhibit; to manifest. [L. ostendere to show.]
- smouldering a.
- Being in a state of suppressed activity; quiet but not dead.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Belgian Expatriation 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, On the Belgian Expatriation, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/on-the-belgian-expatriation.html, id L24236.
Form and metre
On the Belgian Expatriation is 14 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 chimesA · bellsB · citadelsB · rhymesA
- 2 A--A timesA · stress · silentness · climesA
- 3 -CD stood · fearC · ostendD
- 4 -CD mood · gearC · endD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I DREAMT that people from the Land of Chimes | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Arrived one autumn morning with their bells, | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘··· |
| To hoist them on the towers and citadels | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| Of my own country, that the musical rhymes | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Rung by them into space at meted times | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Amid the market’s daily stir and stress, | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘··· |
| And the night’s empty star-lit silentness, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Might solace souls of this and kindred climes. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Then I awoke; and lo, before me stood | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| The visioned ones, but pale and full of fear; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| From Bruges they came, and Antwerp, and Ostend, | 11 | ·/˘···/˘·˘/ |
| No carillons in their train. Foes of mad mood | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Had shattered these to shards amid the gear | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Of ravaged roof, and smouldering gable-end. | 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.