While Drawing in a Church-Yard
“IT is sad that so many of worth,Still in the flesh,” soughed the yew,“Misjudge their lot whom kindly earthSecludes from view.
“They ride their diurnal roundEach day-span’s sum of hoursIn peerless ease, without jolt or boundOr ache like ours.
“If the living could but hearWhat is heard by my roots as they creepRound the restful flock, and the things said there,No one would weep.”
“‘Now set among the wise,’They say: ‘Enlarged in scope,That no God trumpet us to riseWe truly hope.’”
I listened to his strange taleIn the mood that stillness brings,And I grew to accept as the day wore paleThat show of things.
Words in this poem
- misjudge v. t.
- To judge erroneously or unjustly; to err in judgment; to misconstrue.
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- restful a.
- Being at rest; quiet.
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
While Drawing in a Church-Yard 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, While Drawing in a Church-Yard, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/while-drawing-in-a-church-yard.html, id L24231.
Form and metre
While Drawing in a Church-Yard is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. 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 ABAB worthA · yewB · earthA · viewB
- 2 ABAB roundA · hoursB · boundA · oursB
- 3 ABAB hearA · creepB · thereA · weepB
- 4 ABAB wiseA · scopeB · riseA · hopeB
- 5 ABAB taleA · bringsB · paleA · thingsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “IT is sad that so many of worth, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Still in the flesh,” soughed the yew, | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| “Misjudge their lot whom kindly earth | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Secludes from view. | 4 | ˘/·· |
| “They ride their diurnal round | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Each day-span’s sum of hours | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| In peerless ease, without jolt or bound | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Or ache like ours. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| “If the living could but hear | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| What is heard by my roots as they creep | 9 | ········· |
| Round the restful flock, and the things said there, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| No one would weep.” | 4 | ···· |
| “‘Now set among the wise,’ | 6 | ······ |
| They say: ‘Enlarged in scope, | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| That no God trumpet us to rise | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We truly hope.’” | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I listened to his strange tale | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| In the mood that stillness brings, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And I grew to accept as the day wore pale | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| That show of things. | 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.