The Interloper
THERE are three folk driving in a quaint old chaise,And the cliff-side track looks green and fair;I view them talking in quiet gleeAs they drop down towards the puffins’ lairBy the roughest of ways;But another with the three rides on, I see,Whom I like not to be there!
No: it’s not anybody you think of. NextA dwelling appears by a slow sweet streamWhere two sit happy and half in the dark:They read, helped out by a frail-wick’d gleam,Some rhythmic text;But one sits with them whom they don’t mark,One I’m wishing could not be there.
No: not whom you knew and name. And nowI discern gay diners in a mansion-place,And the guests dropping wit—pert, prim, or choice,And the hostess’s tender and laughing face,And the host’s bland brow;I cannot help hearing a hollow voice,And I’d fain not hear it there.
No: it’s not from the stranger you met once. Ah,Yet a goodlier scene than that succeeds;People on a lawn—quite a crowd of them. Yes,And they chatter and ramble as fancy leads;And they say, “Hurrah!”To a blithe speech made; save one, mirthless,Who ought not to be there.
Nay: it’s not the pale Form your imagings raise,That waits on us all at a destined time,It is not the Fourth Figure the Furnace showed,O that it were such a shape sublime;In these latter days!It is that under which best lives corrode;Would, would it could not be there!
Words in this poem
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- quaint a.
- Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
- chaise n.
- A two-wheeled carriage for two persons, with a calash top, and the body hung on leather straps, or thoroughbraces. It is usually drawn by one horse. [F. chaise seat, or chair, chaise or carriage, for chaire, from a peculiar Parisian pronunciation. See Chair.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- rhythmic a.
- Pertaining to, or of the nature of, rhythm DAy and night I worked my rhythmic thought. Mrs. Browning. [Gr. rhythmicus, F. rhythmique.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- hurrah interj.
- A word used as a shout of joy, triumph, applause, encouragement, or welcome. [Cf. G., Dan., & Sw. hurra. Cf. Huzza.]
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Interloper 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 Interloper, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/the-interloper.html, id L24174.
Form and metre
The Interloper is 35 lines in 5 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABCBACB chaiseA · fairB · gleeC · lairB · waysA · seeC · thereB
- 2 ABCBAC- nextA · streamB · darkC · gleamB · textA · markC · there
- 3 ABCBAC- nowA · placeB · choiceC · faceB · browA · voiceC · there
- 4 AB-BA-- ahA · succeedsB · yes · leadsB · hurrahA · mirthless · there
- 5 ABCBAC- raiseA · timeB · showedC · sublimeB · daysA · corrodeC · there
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THERE are three folk driving in a quaint old chaise, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And the cliff-side track looks green and fair; | 9 | ········· |
| I view them talking in quiet glee | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| As they drop down towards the puffins’ lair | 9 | ······/·· |
| By the roughest of ways; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| But another with the three rides on, I see, | 11 | ·˘/˘······· |
| Whom I like not to be there! | 7 | ······· |
| No: it’s not anybody you think of. Next | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| A dwelling appears by a slow sweet stream | 10 | ·/˘˘/····· |
| Where two sit happy and half in the dark: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| They read, helped out by a frail-wick’d gleam, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Some rhythmic text; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| But one sits with them whom they don’t mark, | 9 | ········· |
| One I’m wishing could not be there. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| No: not whom you knew and name. And now | 9 | ········· |
| I discern gay diners in a mansion-place, | 10 | ·˘/·/··/˘· |
| And the guests dropping wit—pert, prim, or choice, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And the hostess’s tender and laughing face, | 10 | ··/˘/˘·/˘· |
| And the host’s bland brow; | 5 | ····· |
| I cannot help hearing a hollow voice, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| And I’d fain not hear it there. | 7 | ······· |
| No: it’s not from the stranger you met once. Ah, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Yet a goodlier scene than that succeeds; | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| People on a lawn—quite a crowd of them. Yes, | 11 | /˘········· |
| And they chatter and ramble as fancy leads; | 11 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| And they say, “Hurrah!” | 5 | ···˘/ |
| To a blithe speech made; save one, mirthless, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Who ought not to be there. | 6 | ······ |
| Nay: it’s not the pale Form your imagings raise, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That waits on us all at a destined time, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| It is not the Fourth Figure the Furnace showed, | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘· |
| O that it were such a shape sublime; | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| In these latter days! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| It is that under which best lives corrode; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Would, would it could not be there! | 7 | ······· |
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