The Shadow on the Stone
I WENT by the Druid stoneThat broods in the garden white and lone,And I stopped and looked at the shifting shadowsThat at some moments fall thereonFrom the tree hard by with a rhythmic swing,And they shaped in my imaginingTo the shade that a well-known head and shouldersThrew there when she was gardening.
I thought her behind my back,Yea, her I long had learned to lack,And I said: “I am sure you are standing behind me,Though how do you get into this old track?”And there was no sound but the fall of a leafAs a sad response; and to keep down griefI would not turn my head to discoverThat there was nothing in my belief.
Yet I wanted to look and seeThat nobody stood at the back of me;But I thought once more: “Nay, I’ll not unvisionA shape which, somehow, there may be.”So I went on softly from the glade,And left her behind me throwing her shade,As she were indeed an apparition—My head unturned lest my dream should fade.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- druid n.
- One of an order of priests which in ancient times existed among certain branches of the Celtic race, especially among the Gauls and Britons. [L. Druides; of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. draoi, druidh, magician, Druid, W. derwydd Druid.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- thereon adv.
- On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
- rhythmic a.
- Pertaining to, or of the nature of, rhythm DAy and night I worked my rhythmic thought. Mrs. Browning. [Gr. rhythmicus, F. rhythmique.]
- gardening n.
- The art of occupation of laying out and cultivating gardens; horticulture.
- discover v. i.
- To discover or show one's self.
- nobody n.
- No person; no one; not anybody. [No, a. + body.]
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- glade n.
- An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
- unturned a.
- Not turned; not revolved or reversed. To leave no stone unturned, to leave nothing untried for accomplishing one's purpose. [Pref. un- + turned.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Shadow on the Stone 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 Shadow on the Stone, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/the-shadow-on-the-stone.html, id L24223.
Form and metre
The Shadow on the Stone is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AAB-CCBC stoneA · loneA · shadowsB · thereon · swingC · imaginingC · shouldersB · gardeningC
- 2 AA-ABB-B backA · lackA · me · trackA · leafB · griefB · discover · beliefB
- 3 AABACCBC seeA · meA · unvisionB · beA · gladeC · shadeC · apparitionB · fadeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I WENT by the Druid stone | 7 | ····/˘· |
| That broods in the garden white and lone, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And I stopped and looked at the shifting shadows | 11 | ·······/˘/· |
| That at some moments fall thereon | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| From the tree hard by with a rhythmic swing, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And they shaped in my imagining | 9 | ·····˘/˘˘ |
| To the shade that a well-known head and shoulders | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Threw there when she was gardening. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| I thought her behind my back, | 7 | ······· |
| Yea, her I long had learned to lack, | 8 | ········ |
| And I said: “I am sure you are standing behind me, | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| Though how do you get into this old track?” | 10 | ·········· |
| And there was no sound but the fall of a leaf | 11 | ··········· |
| As a sad response; and to keep down grief | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| I would not turn my head to discover | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| That there was nothing in my belief. | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| Yet I wanted to look and see | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| That nobody stood at the back of me; | 10 | ·/········ |
| But I thought once more: “Nay, I’ll not unvision | 11 | ··········· |
| A shape which, somehow, there may be.” | 8 | ···/···· |
| So I went on softly from the glade, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And left her behind me throwing her shade, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| As she were indeed an apparition— | 10 | ···˘/··˘/˘ |
| My head unturned lest my dream should fade. | 9 | ··˘/····· |
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.