The Pedestrian an Incident of 1883
“SIR, will you let me give you a ride?Nox Venit, and the heath is wide.”—My phaeton-lantern shone on oneYoung, fair, even fresh,But burdened with flesh:A leathern satchel at his side,His breathings short, his coat undone.
’Twas as if his corpulent figure sloppedWith the shake of his walking when he stopped,And, though the night’s pinch grew acute,He wore but a thinWind-thridded suit,Yet well-shaped shoes for walking in,Artistic beaver, cane gold-topped.
“Alas, my friend,” he said with a smile,“I am daily bound to foot ten mile—Wet, dry, or dark—before I rest.Six months to liveMy doctors giveMe as my prospect here, at best,Unless I vamp my sturdiest!”
His voice was that of a man refined,A man, one well could feel, of mind,Quite winning in its musical ease;But in mould malignedBy some disease;And I asked again. But he shook his head;Then, as if more were due, he said:—
“A student was I—of Schopenhauer,Kant, Hegel,—and the fountained bowerOf the Muses, too, knew my regard:But ah—I fear meThe grave gapes near me! . . .Would I could this gross sheath discard,And rise an ethereal shape, unmarred!”
How I remember him!—his short breath,His aspect, marked for early death,As he dropped into the night for ever;One caught in his primeOf high endeavour;From all philosophies soon to severThrough an unconscienced trick of Time!
Words in this poem
- leathern a.
- Made of leather; consisting of. leather; as, a leathern purse.
- satchel n.
- A little sack or bag for carrying papers, books, or small articles of wearing apparel; a hand bag. [Spelled also sachel.] [OF. sachel, fr. L. saccellus, dim. of saccus. See Sack a bag.]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- vamp v. i.
- To advance; to travel.
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- endeavour v. t.
- To exert physical or intellectual strength for the attainment of; to use efforts to effect; to strive to achieve or reach; to try; to attempt. [OE. endevor; pref. en- + dever, devoir, duty, F. devoir: cf. F. se mettre en devoir de faire quelque chose to try to do a thing, to go about it. See Devoir, Deb]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Pedestrian an Incident of 1883 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 Pedestrian an Incident of 1883, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/the-pedestrian-an-incident-of-1883.html, id L24190.
Form and metre
The Pedestrian an Incident of 1883 is 42 lines in 6 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 AABCCAB rideA · wideA · oneB · freshC · fleshC · sideA · undoneB
- 2 -ABCBCA slopped · stoppedA · acuteB · thinC · suitB · inC · toppedA
- 3 AABCCBB smileA · mileA · restB · liveC · giveC · bestB · sturdiestB
- 4 AABABCC refinedA · mindA · easeB · malignedA · diseaseB · headC · saidC
- 5 --ABBAA schopenhauer · bower · regardA · meB · meB · discardA · unmarredA
- 6 AABCBBC breathA · deathA · everB · primeC · endeavourB · severB · timeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “SIR, will you let me give you a ride? | 9 | ········· |
| Nox Venit, and the heath is wide.” | 8 | ········ |
| —My phaeton-lantern shone on one | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Young, fair, even fresh, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| But burdened with flesh: | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| A leathern satchel at his side, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| His breathings short, his coat undone. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| ’Twas as if his corpulent figure slopped | 10 | ····/˘˘/˘· |
| With the shake of his walking when he stopped, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And, though the night’s pinch grew acute, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He wore but a thin | 5 | ····· |
| Wind-thridded suit, | 4 | ···· |
| Yet well-shaped shoes for walking in, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Artistic beaver, cane gold-topped. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| “Alas, my friend,” he said with a smile, | 9 | ˘/······· |
| “I am daily bound to foot ten mile— | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Wet, dry, or dark—before I rest. | 8 | ········ |
| Six months to live | 4 | ···· |
| My doctors give | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Me as my prospect here, at best, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Unless I vamp my sturdiest!” | 7 | ······· |
| His voice was that of a man refined, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| A man, one well could feel, of mind, | 8 | ········ |
| Quite winning in its musical ease; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But in mould maligned | 5 | ···˘/ |
| By some disease; | 4 | ··˘/ |
| And I asked again. But he shook his head; | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Then, as if more were due, he said:— | 8 | ········ |
| “A student was I—of Schopenhauer, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Kant, Hegel,—and the fountained bower | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Of the Muses, too, knew my regard: | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| But ah—I fear me | 5 | ····· |
| The grave gapes near me! . . . | 5 | ····· |
| Would I could this gross sheath discard, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And rise an ethereal shape, unmarred!” | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| How I remember him!—his short breath, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| His aspect, marked for early death, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| As he dropped into the night for ever; | 9 | ········/ |
| One caught in his prime | 5 | ····· |
| Of high endeavour; | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| From all philosophies soon to sever | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Through an unconscienced trick of Time! | 8 | ········ |
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.