A Spot
IN years defaced and lost,Two sat here, transport-tossed,Lit by a living loveThe wilted world knew nothing of:Scared momentlyBy gaingivings,Then hoping thingsThat could not be.
Of love and us no traceAbides upon the place;The sun and shadows wheel,Season and season sereward steal;Foul days and fairHere, too, prevail,And gust and galeAs everywhere.
But lonely shepherd soulsWho bask amid these knollsMay catch a faery soundOn sleepy noontides from the ground:“O not againTill Earth outwearsShall love like theirsSuffuse this glen!”
Words in this poem
- bask v. i.
- To lie in warmth; to be exposed to genial heat. [OScand. ba to bathe one's self, or perh. bakask to bake one's self, sk being reflexive. See Bath, n., Bake, v. t.]
- 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]
- 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,]
- suffuse v. t.
- To overspread, as with a fluid or tincture; to fill or cover, as with something fluid; as, eyes suffused with tears; cheeks suffused with blushes. [L. suffusus, p.p. of suffundere to overspread; sub under + fundere to pour. See Fuse to melt.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Spot is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of the Past and the Present, Project Gutenberg ebook #3168; 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, A Spot, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/a-spot.html, id L16900.
Form and metre
A Spot is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCDDC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.4 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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-CC- lostA · tossedA · loveB · ofB · momently · gaingivingsC · thingsC · be
- 2 AABBCDDC traceA · placeA · wheelB · stealB · fairC · prevailD · galeD · everywhereC
- 3 AABBCDDC soulsA · knollsA · soundB · groundB · againC · outwearsD · theirsD · glenC
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| IN years defaced and lost, | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| Two sat here, transport-tossed, | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| Lit by a living love | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The wilted world knew nothing of: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Scared momently | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| By gaingivings, | 4 | ···· |
| Then hoping things | 4 | ·/˘· |
| That could not be. | 4 | ···· |
| Of love and us no trace | 6 | ······ |
| Abides upon the place; | 6 | ˘/···· |
| The sun and shadows wheel, | 6 | ···/·· |
| Season and season sereward steal; | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| Foul days and fair | 4 | ···· |
| Here, too, prevail, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| And gust and gale | 4 | ···· |
| As everywhere. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| But lonely shepherd souls | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Who bask amid these knolls | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| May catch a faery sound | 6 | ······ |
| On sleepy noontides from the ground: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| “O not again | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Till Earth outwears | 4 | ···· |
| Shall love like theirs | 4 | ···· |
| Suffuse this glen!” | 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.