The Clock of the Years
AND the Spirit said,“I can make the clock of the years go backward,But am loth to stop it where you will.”And I cried, “AgreedTo that. Proceed:It’s better than dead!”
He answered, “Peace”;And called her up—as last before me;Then younger, younger she freshed, to the yearI first had knownHer woman-grown,And I cried, “Cease!—
“Thus far is good—It is enough—let her stay thus always!”But alas for me. He shook his head:No stop was there;And she waned child-fair,And to babyhood.
Still less in mienTo my great sorrow became she slowly,And smalled till she was nought at allIn his checkless griff;And it was as ifShe had never been.
“Better,” I plained,“She were dead as before! The memory of herHad lived in me; but it cannot now!”And coldly his voice:“It was your choiceTo mar the ordained.”
Words in this poem
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- babyhood n.
- The state or period of infancy.
- checkless a.
- That can not be checked or restrained.
- coldly adv.
- In a cold manner; without warmth, animation, or feeling; with indifference; calmly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Clock of the Years 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, The Clock of the Years, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/the-clock-of-the-years.html, id L24221.
Form and metre
The Clock of the Years is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 AA-BBA saidA · backwardA · will · agreedB · proceedB · deadA
- 2 A--BBA peaceA · me · year · knownB · grownB · ceaseA
- 3 A--BBA goodA · always · head · thereB · fairB · babyhoodA
- 4 ---AA- mien · slowly · all · griffA · ifA · been
- 5 A--BBA plainedA · her · now · voiceB · choiceB · ordainedA
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| AND the Spirit said, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| “I can make the clock of the years go backward, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| But am loth to stop it where you will.” | 9 | ········· |
| And I cried, “Agreed | 5 | ···˘/ |
| To that. Proceed: | 4 | ··˘/ |
| It’s better than dead!” | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| He answered, “Peace”; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And called her up—as last before me; | 9 | ········· |
| Then younger, younger she freshed, to the year | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| I first had known | 4 | ···· |
| Her woman-grown, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And I cried, “Cease!— | 4 | ···· |
| “Thus far is good— | 4 | ···· |
| It is enough—let her stay thus always!” | 10 | ··˘/····/· |
| But alas for me. He shook his head: | 9 | ·˘/······ |
| No stop was there; | 4 | ···· |
| And she waned child-fair, | 5 | ····· |
| And to babyhood. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Still less in mien | 4 | ···· |
| To my great sorrow became she slowly, | 10 | ···/˘˘/·/˘ |
| And smalled till she was nought at all | 8 | ········ |
| In his checkless griff; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And it was as if | 5 | ····· |
| She had never been. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| “Better,” I plained, | 4 | /˘·· |
| “She were dead as before! The memory of her | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Had lived in me; but it cannot now!” | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And coldly his voice: | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| “It was your choice | 4 | ···· |
| To mar the ordained.” | 5 | ···˘/ |
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.