The Coming of the End
HOW it came to an end!The meeting afar from the crowd,And the love-looks and laughters unpenned,The parting when much was avowed,How it came to an end!
It came to an end;Yes, the outgazing over the stream,With the sun on each serpentine bend,Or, later, the luring moon-gleam;It came to an end.
It came to an end,The housebuilding, furnishing, planting,As if there were ages to spendIn welcoming, feasting, and jaunting;It came to an end.
It came to an end,That journey of one day a week:(“It always goes on,” said a friend,“Just the same in bright weathers or bleak;”)But it came to an end.
“How will come to an endThis orbit so smoothly begun,Unless some convulsion attend?”I often said. “What will be doneWhen it comes to an end?”
Well, it came to an endQuite silently—stopped without jerk;Better close no prevision could lend;Working out as One planned it should workEre it came to an end.
Words in this poem
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- convulsion n.
- An unnatural, violent, and unvoluntary contraction of the muscular parts of an animal body. [L. convulsio: cf. F. convulsion.]
- prevision n.
- Foresight; foreknowledge; prescience. H. Spencer. [Cf. F. prévision.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Coming of the End 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 Coming of the End, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/the-coming-of-the-end.html, id L24249.
Form and metre
The Coming of the End is 30 lines in 6 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABA, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 ABABA endA · crowdB · unpennedA · avowedB · endA
- 2 ABABA endA · streamB · bendA · gleamB · endA
- 3 A-A-A endA · planting · spendA · jaunting · endA
- 4 ABABA endA · weekB · friendA · bleakB · endA
- 5 ABABA endA · begunB · attendA · doneB · endA
- 6 ABABA endA · jerkB · lendA · workB · endA
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| HOW it came to an end! | 6 | ······ |
| The meeting afar from the crowd, | 8 | ·/˘˘/··· |
| And the love-looks and laughters unpenned, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| The parting when much was avowed, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| How it came to an end! | 6 | ······ |
| It came to an end; | 5 | ····· |
| Yes, the outgazing over the stream, | 8 | ········ |
| With the sun on each serpentine bend, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Or, later, the luring moon-gleam; | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| It came to an end. | 5 | ····· |
| It came to an end, | 5 | ····· |
| The housebuilding, furnishing, planting, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| As if there were ages to spend | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| In welcoming, feasting, and jaunting; | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘ |
| It came to an end. | 5 | ····· |
| It came to an end, | 5 | ····· |
| That journey of one day a week: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| (“It always goes on,” said a friend, | 8 | ·/······ |
| “Just the same in bright weathers or bleak;”) | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| But it came to an end. | 6 | ······ |
| “How will come to an end | 6 | ······ |
| This orbit so smoothly begun, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Unless some convulsion attend?” | 8 | ···˘/˘˘/ |
| I often said. “What will be done | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When it comes to an end?” | 6 | ······ |
| Well, it came to an end | 6 | ······ |
| Quite silently—stopped without jerk; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Better close no prevision could lend; | 9 | /˘··˘/˘·· |
| Working out as One planned it should work | 9 | /˘······· |
| Ere it came to an end. | 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.