Overlooking the River Stour
THE swallows flew in the curves of an eightAbove the river-gleamIn the wet June’s last beam:Like little crossbows animateThe swallows flew in the curves of an eightAbove the river-gleam.
Planing up shavings of crystal sprayA moor-hen darted outFrom the bank thereabout,And through the stream-shine ripped his way;Planing up shavings of crystal sprayA moor-hen darted out.
Closed were the kingcups; and the meadDripped in monotonous green,Though the day’s morning sheenHad shown it golden and honeybee’d;Closed were the kingcups; and the meadDripped in monotonous green.
And never I turned my head, alack,While these things met my gazeThrough the pane’s drop-drenched glaze,To see the more behind my back . . .O never I turned, but let, alack,These less things hold my gaze!
Words in this poem
- thereabout adv.
- Near that place. [The latter spelling is less proper, but more commonly used.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- alack interj.
- An exclamation expressive of sorrow. [Prob. from ah! lack! OE. lak loss, failure, misfortune. See Lack.]
- pane n.
- The narrow edge of a hammer head. See Peen. [F. panne.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Overlooking the River Stour 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, Overlooking the River Stour, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/overlooking-the-river-stour.html, id L24166.
Form and metre
Overlooking the River Stour is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBAAB. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
See other poems in iambic 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 ABBAAB eightA · gleamB · beamB · animateA · eightA · gleamB
- 2 ABBAAB sprayA · outB · thereaboutB · wayA · sprayA · outB
- 3 ABBAAB meadA · greenB · sheenB · honeybee'dA · meadA · greenB
- 4 ABBAAB alackA · gazeB · glazeB · backA · alackA · gazeB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THE swallows flew in the curves of an eight | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Above the river-gleam | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In the wet June’s last beam: | 6 | ······ |
| Like little crossbows animate | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| The swallows flew in the curves of an eight | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Above the river-gleam. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Planing up shavings of crystal spray | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘· |
| A moor-hen darted out | 6 | ···/˘· |
| From the bank thereabout, | 6 | ······ |
| And through the stream-shine ripped his way; | 8 | ········ |
| Planing up shavings of crystal spray | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘· |
| A moor-hen darted out. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Closed were the kingcups; and the mead | 8 | ········ |
| Dripped in monotonous green, | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| Though the day’s morning sheen | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Had shown it golden and honeybee’d; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Closed were the kingcups; and the mead | 8 | ········ |
| Dripped in monotonous green. | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| And never I turned my head, alack, | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| While these things met my gaze | 6 | ······ |
| Through the pane’s drop-drenched glaze, | 6 | ······ |
| To see the more behind my back . . . | 8 | ········ |
| O never I turned, but let, alack, | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| These less things hold my gaze! | 6 | ······ |
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.