On the Doorstep
THE rain imprinted the step’s wet shineWith target-circles that quivered and crossedAs I was leaving this porch of mine;When from within there swelled and pausedA song’s sweet note;And back I turned, and thought,“Here I’ll abide.”
The step shines wet beneath the rain,Which prints its circles as heretofore;I watch them from the porch again,But no song-notes within the doorNow call to meTo shun the dripping leaAnd forth I stride.
Words in this poem
- quivered a.
- Furnished with, or carrying, a quiver.
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
- stride v. t.
- To walk with long steps, especially in a measured or pompous manner. [AS. stridan to stride, to strive; akin to LG. striden, OFries. strida to strive, D. strijden to strive, to contend, G. streiten, OHG. stritan; of uncertain orig]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Doorstep 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 Doorstep, 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-doorstep.html, id L24218.
Form and metre
On the Doorstep is 14 lines in 2 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 A-A---- shineA · crossed · mineA · paused · note · thought · abide
- 2 ABABCC- rainA · heretoforeB · againA · doorB · meC · leaC · stride
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THE rain imprinted the step’s wet shine | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| With target-circles that quivered and crossed | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| As I was leaving this porch of mine; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| When from within there swelled and paused | 8 | ········ |
| A song’s sweet note; | 4 | ···· |
| And back I turned, and thought, | 6 | ······ |
| “Here I’ll abide.” | 4 | ··˘/ |
| The step shines wet beneath the rain, | 8 | ········ |
| Which prints its circles as heretofore; | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| I watch them from the porch again, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But no song-notes within the door | 8 | ········ |
| Now call to me | 4 | ···· |
| To shun the dripping lea | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And forth I stride. | 4 | ···· |
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.