The Photograph
THE flame crept up the portrait line by lineAs it lay on the coals in the silence of night’s profound,And over the arm’s incline,And along the marge of the silkwork superfine,And gnawed at the delicate bosom’s defenceless round.
Then I vented a cry of hurt, and averted my eyes;The spectacle was one that I could not bear,To my deep and sad surprise;But, compelled to heed, I again looked furtive-wiseTill the flame had eaten her breasts, and mouth, and hair.
“Thank God, she is out of it now!” I said at last,In a great relief of heart when the thing was doneThat had set my soul aghast,And nothing was left of the picture unsheathed from the pastBut the ashen ghost of the card it had figured on.
She was a woman long hid amid packs of years,She might have been living or dead; she was lost to my sight,And the deed that had nigh drawn tearsWas done in a casual clearance of life’s arrears;But I felt as if I had put her to death that night! . . .
—Well; she knew nothing thereof did she survive,And suffered nothing if numbered among the dead;Yet—yet—if on earth aliveDid she feel a smart, and with vague strange anguish strive?If in heaven, did she smile at me sadly and shake her head?
Words in this poem
- marge n.
- Border; margin; edge; verge. [F. marge. See Margin.]
- superfine a.
- Very fine, or most fine; being of surpassing fineness; of extra nice or fine quality; as, superfine cloth.
- averted a.
- Turned away, esp. as an expression of feeling; also, offended; unpropitious.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- ashen a.
- Of or pertaining to the ash tree. [See Ash, the tree.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- clearance n.
- The act of clearing; as, to make a through clearance.
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Photograph 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 Photograph, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/the-photograph.html, id L24148.
Form and metre
The Photograph is 25 lines in 5 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 70%).
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 ABAAB lineA · profoundB · inclineA · superfineA · roundB
- 2 ABAAB eyesA · bearB · surpriseA · wiseA · hairB
- 3 A-AA- lastA · done · aghastA · pastA · on
- 4 ABAAB yearsA · sightB · tearsA · arrearsA · nightB
- 5 ABAAB surviveA · deadB · aliveA · striveA · headB
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THE flame crept up the portrait line by line | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As it lay on the coals in the silence of night’s profound, | 14 | ········/˘··˘/ |
| And over the arm’s incline, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And along the marge of the silkwork superfine, | 12 | ·˘/······/˘˘ |
| And gnawed at the delicate bosom’s defenceless round. | 13 | ····/˘/˘····· |
| Then I vented a cry of hurt, and averted my eyes; | 14 | ··/˘·····˘/˘·· |
| The spectacle was one that I could not bear, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To my deep and sad surprise; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| But, compelled to heed, I again looked furtive-wise | 12 | ·˘/···˘/·/˘· |
| Till the flame had eaten her breasts, and mouth, and hair. | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| “Thank God, she is out of it now!” I said at last, | 12 | ············ |
| In a great relief of heart when the thing was done | 12 | ···˘/······· |
| That had set my soul aghast, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And nothing was left of the picture unsheathed from the past | 14 | ·/˘····/˘····· |
| But the ashen ghost of the card it had figured on. | 13 | ··/˘······/˘· |
| She was a woman long hid amid packs of years, | 12 | ···/˘··˘/··· |
| She might have been living or dead; she was lost to my sight, | 14 | ····/˘········ |
| And the deed that had nigh drawn tears | 8 | ········ |
| Was done in a casual clearance of life’s arrears; | 12 | ····/˘/˘··˘/ |
| But I felt as if I had put her to death that night! . . . | 13 | ············· |
| —Well; she knew nothing thereof did she survive, | 11 | ···/˘····˘/ |
| And suffered nothing if numbered among the dead; | 12 | ·/˘/˘·/˘···· |
| Yet—yet—if on earth alive | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Did she feel a smart, and with vague strange anguish strive? | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| If in heaven, did she smile at me sadly and shake her head? | 14 | ··/·····/˘···· |
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