Paths of Former Time
NO; no;It must not be so:They are the ways we do not go.
Still chewThe kine, and mooIn the meadows we used to wander through;
Still purlThe rivulets and curlTowards the weirs with a musical swirl;
HaymakersAs in former yearsRake rolls into heaps that the pitchfork rears;
Wheels crackOn the turfy trackThe waggon pursues with its toppling pack.
“Why then shun—Since summer’s not done—All this because of the lack of one?”
Had you beenSharer of that sceneYou would not ask while it bites in keen
Why it is soWe can no more goBy the summer paths we used to know!
Words in this poem
- purl v. t.
- To decorate with fringe or embroidery. [Contr. fr. purfile, purfle. See Purfle.]
- swirl v. t.
- To whirl, or cause to whirl, as in an eddy. [Akin to Norw. svirla to whirl, freq. of sverra to whirl, Dan. svirre, G. schwirren to whiz, to buzz. *177. See Swarm, n.]
- pitchfork n.
- A fork, or farming utensil, used in pitching hay, sheaves of grain, or the like.
- sharer n.
- One who shares; a participator; a partaker; also, a divider; a distributer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Paths of Former Time 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, Paths of Former Time, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/paths-of-former-time.html, id L24220.
Form and metre
Paths of Former Time is 24 lines in 8 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic trimeter.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, 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 AAA noA · soA · goA
- 2 AAA chewA · mooA · throughA
- 3 AAA purlA · curlA · swirlA
- 4 -AA haymakers · yearsA · rearsA
- 5 AAA crackA · trackA · packA
- 6 AAA shunA · doneA · oneA
- 7 -AA been · sceneA · keenA
- 8 AAA soA · goA · knowA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| NO; no; | 2 | ·· |
| It must not be so: | 5 | ····· |
| They are the ways we do not go. | 8 | ········ |
| Still chew | 2 | ·· |
| The kine, and moo | 4 | ···· |
| In the meadows we used to wander through; | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
| Still purl | 2 | ·· |
| The rivulets and curl | 6 | ······ |
| Towards the weirs with a musical swirl; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Haymakers | 3 | /·˘ |
| As in former years | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Rake rolls into heaps that the pitchfork rears; | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Wheels crack | 2 | ·· |
| On the turfy track | 5 | ··/˘· |
| The waggon pursues with its toppling pack. | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| “Why then shun— | 3 | ··· |
| Since summer’s not done— | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| All this because of the lack of one?” | 9 | ········· |
| Had you been | 3 | ··· |
| Sharer of that scene | 5 | /˘··· |
| You would not ask while it bites in keen | 9 | ········· |
| Why it is so | 4 | ···· |
| We can no more go | 5 | ····· |
| By the summer paths we used to know! | 9 | ··/˘····· |
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.