The Memorial Brass: 186
“WHY do you weep there, O sweet lady,Why do you weep before that brass?—(I’m a mere student sketching the mediaeval)Is some late death lined there, alas?—Your father’s? . . . Well, all pay the debt that paid he!”
“Young man, O must I tell!—My husband’s! And underHis name I set mine, and my death!—Its date left vacant till my heirs should fill it,Stating me faithful till my last breath.”—“Madam, that you are a widow wakes my wonder!”
“O wait! For last month I—remarried!And now I fear ’twas a deed amiss.We’ve just come home. And I am sick and saddenedAt what the new one will say to this;And will he think—think that I should have tarried?
“I may add, surely,—with no wish to harm him—That he’s a temper—yes, I fear!And when he comes to church next Sunday morning,And sees that written . . . O dear, O dear!”—“Madam, I swear your beauty will disarm him!”
Words in this poem
- mediaeval a.
- Of or relating to the Middle Ages; as, mediæval architecture. [L. medius middle + aevum age. See Middle, and Age.]
- stating n.
- The act of one who states anything; statement; as, the statingof one's opinions.
- disarm v. t.
- To deprive of arms; to take away the weapons of; to deprive of the means of attack or defense; to render defenseless. [OE. desarmen, F. désarmer; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + armer to arm. See Arm.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Memorial Brass: 186 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 Memorial Brass: 186, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/the-memorial-brass-186.html, id L24193.
Form and metre
The Memorial Brass: 186 is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
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 -A-A- lady · brassA · mediaeval · alasA · he
- 2 AB-BA underA · deathB · it · breathB · wonderA
- 3 AB-BA remarriedA · amissB · saddened · thisB · tarriedA
- 4 AB-BA himA · fearB · morning · dearB · himA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “WHY do you weep there, O sweet lady, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Why do you weep before that brass?— | 8 | ········ |
| (I’m a mere student sketching the mediaeval) | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| Is some late death lined there, alas?— | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Your father’s? . . . Well, all pay the debt that paid he!” | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| “Young man, O must I tell!—My husband’s! And under | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| His name I set mine, and my death!— | 8 | ········ |
| Its date left vacant till my heirs should fill it, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Stating me faithful till my last breath.” | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| —“Madam, that you are a widow wakes my wonder!” | 12 | /˘····/˘··/˘ |
| “O wait! For last month I—remarried! | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And now I fear ’twas a deed amiss. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| We’ve just come home. And I am sick and saddened | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| At what the new one will say to this; | 9 | ········· |
| And will he think—think that I should have tarried? | 10 | ·········· |
| “I may add, surely,—with no wish to harm him— | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| That he’s a temper—yes, I fear! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And when he comes to church next Sunday morning, | 11 | ·······/·/˘ |
| And sees that written . . . O dear, O dear!” | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| —“Madam, I swear your beauty will disarm him!” | 11 | /˘···/˘·˘/· |
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.