“Something Tapped”
SOMETHING tapped on the pane of my roomWhen there was never a traceOf wind or rain, and I saw in the gloomMy weary Belovéd’s face.
“O I am tired of waiting,” she said,“Night, morn, noon, afternoon;So cold it is in my lonely bed,And I thought you would join me soon!”
I rose and neared the window-glass,But vanished thence had she:Only a pallid moth, alas,Tapped at the pane for me.
Words in this poem
- pane n.
- The narrow edge of a hammer head. See Peen. [F. panne.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
“Something Tapped” 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, “Something Tapped”, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/something-tapped.html, id L24140.
Form and metre
“Something Tapped” is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB roomA · traceB · gloomA · faceB
- 2 ABAB saidA · afternoonB · bedA · soonB
- 3 ABAB glassA · sheB · alasA · meB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| SOMETHING tapped on the pane of my room | 9 | /˘······· |
| When there was never a trace | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Of wind or rain, and I saw in the gloom | 10 | ·········· |
| My weary Belovéd’s face. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| “O I am tired of waiting,” she said, | 9 | ···/·/˘·· |
| “Night, morn, noon, afternoon; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| So cold it is in my lonely bed, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And I thought you would join me soon!” | 8 | ········ |
| I rose and neared the window-glass, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But vanished thence had she: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Only a pallid moth, alas, | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Tapped at the pane for me. | 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.