“You on the Tower”
“YOU on the tower of my factory—What do you see up there?Do you see Enjoyment with wide wingsAdvancing to reach me here?”—“Yea; I see Enjoyment with wide wingsAdvancing to reach you here.”
“Good. Soon I’ll come and ask youTo tell me again thereon . . .Well, what is he doing now? Hoi, there!”—“He still is flying on.”“Ah, waiting till I have full-finished.Good. Tell me again anon . . .
“Hoi, Watchman! I’m here. When comes he?Between my sweats I am chill.”—“Oh, you there, working still?Why, surely he reached you a time back,And took you miles from your mill?He duly came in his winging,And now he has passed out of view.How can it be that you missed him?He brushed you by as he flew.”
Words in this poem
- thereon adv.
- On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- watchman n.
- One set to watch; a person who keeps guard; a guard; a sentinel.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
“You on the Tower” 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, “You on the Tower”, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/you-on-the-tower.html, id L24173.
Form and metre
“You on the Tower” is 21 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 -ABABA factory · thereA · wingsB · hereA · wingsB · hereA
- 2 -A-A-- you · thereonA · there · onA · finished · anon
- 3 -AA-A-B-B he · chillA · stillA · back · millA · winging · viewB · him · flewB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “YOU on the tower of my factory— | 9 | ···/··/˘˘ |
| What do you see up there? | 6 | ······ |
| Do you see Enjoyment with wide wings | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Advancing to reach me here?” | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| —“Yea; I see Enjoyment with wide wings | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Advancing to reach you here.” | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| “Good. Soon I’ll come and ask you | 7 | ······· |
| To tell me again thereon . . . | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
| Well, what is he doing now? Hoi, there!” | 8 | ····/··· |
| —“He still is flying on.” | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “Ah, waiting till I have full-finished. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Good. Tell me again anon . . . | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
| “Hoi, Watchman! I’m here. When comes he? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Between my sweats I am chill.” | 7 | ······· |
| —“Oh, you there, working still? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Why, surely he reached you a time back, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And took you miles from your mill? | 7 | ······· |
| He duly came in his winging, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| And now he has passed out of view. | 8 | ········ |
| How can it be that you missed him? | 8 | ········ |
| He brushed you by as he flew.” | 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.