Then and Now
WHEN battles were foughtWith a chivalrous sense of Should and Ought,In spirit men said,“End we quick or dead,Honour is some reward!Let us fight fair—for our own best or worst;So, Gentlemen of the Guard,Fire first!”
In the open they stood,Man to man in his knightlihood:They would not deignTo profit by a stainOn the honourable rules,Knowing that practise perfidy no man durstWho in the heroic schoolsWas nurst.
But now, behold, whatIs warfare wherein honour is not!Rama lamentsIts dead innocents:Herod breathes: “Sly slaughterShall rule! Let us, by modes once called accurst,Overhead, under water,Stab first.”
Words in this poem
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- deign v. t.
- To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice; -- opposed to disdain. [OE. deinen, deignen, OF. degner, deigner, daigner, F. daigner, fr. L. dignari to deem worthy, deign, fr. dignus worthy; akin to decere to be fitting. See Decent]
- perfidy n.
- The act of violating faith or allegiance; violation of a promise or vow, or of trust reposed; faithlessness; teachery. [L. perfidia, fr. L. perfidus faithless; per (cf. Skr. para away) + fides faith: cf. F. perfidie. See Faith.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- accurst p. p.
- Doomed to destruction or misery; cursed; hence, bad enough to be under the curse; execrable; detestable; exceedingly hateful; -- as, an accursed deed.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Then and Now 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, Then and Now, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/then-and-now.html, id L24243.
Form and metre
Then and Now is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 AABB-C-C foughtA · oughtA · saidB · deadB · reward · worstC · guard · firstC
- 2 AABBCDCD stoodA · knightlihoodA · deignB · stainB · rulesC · durstD · schoolsC · nurstD
- 3 --AABCBC what · not · lamentsA · innocentsA · slaughterB · accurstC · waterB · firstC
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| WHEN battles were fought | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| With a chivalrous sense of Should and Ought, | 10 | ··/˘˘····· |
| In spirit men said, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| “End we quick or dead, | 5 | ····· |
| Honour is some reward! | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| Let us fight fair—for our own best or worst; | 10 | ·····/···· |
| So, Gentlemen of the Guard, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Fire first!” | 3 | /˘· |
| In the open they stood, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Man to man in his knightlihood: | 8 | ········ |
| They would not deign | 4 | ···· |
| To profit by a stain | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| On the honourable rules, | 7 | ······· |
| Knowing that practise perfidy no man durst | 9 | /·/˘/˘··· |
| Who in the heroic schools | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Was nurst. | 2 | ·· |
| But now, behold, what | 5 | ··˘/· |
| Is warfare wherein honour is not! | 9 | ·/···/˘·· |
| Rama laments | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Its dead innocents: | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Herod breathes: “Sly slaughter | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Shall rule! Let us, by modes once called accurst, | 10 | ·········· |
| Overhead, under water, | 7 | /˘/··/˘ |
| Stab first.” | 2 | ·· |
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.