The Musical Box
LIFELONG to beSeemed the fair colour of the time;That there was standing shadowed nearA spirit who sang to the gentle chimeOf the self-struck notes, I did not hear,I did not see.
Thus did it singTo the mindless lyre that played indoorsAs she came to listen for me without:“O value what the nonce outpours—This best of life—that shines aboutYour welcoming!”
I had slowed alongAfter the torrid hours were done,Though still the posts and walls and roadFlung back their sense of the hot-faced sun,And had walked by Stourside Mill, where broadStream-lilies throng.
And I descriedThe dusky house that stood apart,And her, white-muslined, waiting thereIn the porch with high-expectant heart,While still the thin mechanic airWent on inside.
At whiles would flitSwart bats, whose wings, be-webbed and tanned,Whirred like the wheels of ancient clocks:She laughed a hailing as she scannedMe in the gloom, the tuneful boxIntoning it.
Lifelong to beI thought it. That there watched hard byA spirit who sang to the indoor tune,“O make the most of what is nigh!”I did not hear in my dull soul-swoon—I did not see.
Words in this poem
- lifelong a.
- Lasting or continuing through life. [Life + long. Cf. Livelong.]
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- mindless a.
- Not indued with mind or intellectual powers; stupid; unthinking.
- indoors adv.
- Within the house; -- usually separated, in doors.
- nonce n.
- The one or single occasion; the present call or purpose; -- chiefly used in the phrase for the nonce. [For the nonce, OE. for the nones, a corruption of for then ones, where n. in then is a relic of AS. m in , dat. of the article and demonstrative pronoun, E. the]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- whiles conj.
- During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- tuneful a.
- Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
- indoor a.
- Done or being within doors; within a house or institution; domestic; as, indoor work.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Musical Box 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 Musical Box, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/the-musical-box.html, id L24167.
Form and metre
The Musical Box is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABCBCA, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABCBCA beA · timeB · nearC · chimeB · hearC · seeA
- 2 -ABAB- sing · indoorsA · withoutB · outpoursA · aboutB · welcoming
- 3 AB-B-A alongA · doneB · road · sunB · broad · throngA
- 4 ABCBCA descriedA · apartB · thereC · heartB · airC · insideA
- 5 ABCBCA flitA · tannedB · clocksC · scannedB · boxC · itA
- 6 ABCBCA beA · byB · tuneC · nighB · swoonC · seeA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| LIFELONG to be | 4 | //·· |
| Seemed the fair colour of the time; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That there was standing shadowed near | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A spirit who sang to the gentle chime | 9 | ·/····/˘· |
| Of the self-struck notes, I did not hear, | 9 | ········· |
| I did not see. | 4 | ···· |
| Thus did it sing | 4 | ···· |
| To the mindless lyre that played indoors | 9 | ··/˘···/· |
| As she came to listen for me without: | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| “O value what the nonce outpours— | 8 | ·/˘····/ |
| This best of life—that shines about | 8 | ········ |
| Your welcoming!” | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| I had slowed along | 5 | ···˘/ |
| After the torrid hours were done, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Though still the posts and walls and road | 8 | ········ |
| Flung back their sense of the hot-faced sun, | 9 | ········· |
| And had walked by Stourside Mill, where broad | 9 | ········· |
| Stream-lilies throng. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And I descried | 3 | ··· |
| The dusky house that stood apart, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And her, white-muslined, waiting there | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In the porch with high-expectant heart, | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| While still the thin mechanic air | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Went on inside. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| At whiles would flit | 4 | ···· |
| Swart bats, whose wings, be-webbed and tanned, | 8 | ········ |
| Whirred like the wheels of ancient clocks: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She laughed a hailing as she scanned | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Me in the gloom, the tuneful box | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Intoning it. | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| Lifelong to be | 4 | //·· |
| I thought it. That there watched hard by | 8 | ········ |
| A spirit who sang to the indoor tune, | 9 | ·/····/·· |
| “O make the most of what is nigh!” | 8 | ········ |
| I did not hear in my dull soul-swoon— | 9 | ········· |
| I did not see. | 4 | ···· |
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.