At a Lunar Eclipse
THY shadow, Earth, from Pole to Central Sea,Now steals along upon the Moon’s meek shineIn even monochrome and curving lineOf imperturbable serenity.
How shall I link such sun-cast symmetryWith the torn troubled form I know as thine,That profile, placid as a brow divine,With continents of moil and misery?
And can immense Mortality but throwSo small a shade, and Heaven’s high human schemeBe hemmed within the coasts yon arc implies?
Is such the stellar gauge of earthly show,Nation at war with nation, brains that teem,Heroes, and women fairer than the skies?
Words in this poem
- monochrome n.
- A painting or drawing in a single color; a picture made with a single color. [Gr. monochrome.]
- imperturbable a.
- Incapable of being disturbed or disconcerted; as, imperturbable gravity. [L. imperturbabilis; pref. im- not + perturbare to disturb: cf. F. imperturbable. See Perture.]
- 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,]
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
- moil v. t.
- To daub; to make dirty; to soil; to defile. [OE. moillen to wet, OF. moillier, muillier, F. mouller, fr. (assumed) LL. molliare, fr. L. mollis soft. See Mollify.]
- mortality n.
- The condition or quality of being mortal; subjection to death or to the necessity of dying. [L. mortalitas: cf. F. mortalité.]
- stellar a.
- Of or pertaining to stars; astral; as, a stellar figure; stellary orbs. [L. stellaris, fr. stella a star. See Star.]
- teem v. t.
- To think fit. G. Gifford. [See Tame, a., and cf. Beteem.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At a Lunar Eclipse 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, At a Lunar Eclipse, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/at-a-lunar-eclipse.html, id L16873.
Form and metre
At a Lunar Eclipse is 14 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is BCD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 -AA- sea · shineA · lineA · serenity
- 2 -AA- symmetry · thineA · divineA · misery
- 3 BCD throwB · schemeC · impliesD
- 4 BCD showB · teemC · skiesD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THY shadow, Earth, from Pole to Central Sea, | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| Now steals along upon the Moon’s meek shine | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| In even monochrome and curving line | 9 | ·//˘··/˘· |
| Of imperturbable serenity. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| How shall I link such sun-cast symmetry | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| With the torn troubled form I know as thine, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That profile, placid as a brow divine, | 10 | ·/·/˘···˘/ |
| With continents of moil and misery? | 9 | ·/˘···/˘˘ |
| And can immense Mortality but throw | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘·· |
| So small a shade, and Heaven’s high human scheme | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘· |
| Be hemmed within the coasts yon arc implies? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Is such the stellar gauge of earthly show, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Nation at war with nation, brains that teem, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Heroes, and women fairer than the skies? | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
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.