“Between Us Now”
BETWEEN us now and here—Two thrown togetherWho are not wont to wearLife’s flushest feather—Who see the scenes slide past,The daytimes dimming fast,Let there be truth at last,Even if despair.
So thoroughly and longHave you now known me,So real in faith and strongHave I now shown me,That nothing needs disguiseFurther in any wise,Or asks or justifiesA guarded tongue.
Face unto face, then, say,Eyes mine own meeting,Is your heart far away,Or with mine beating?When false things are brought low,And swift things have grown slow,Feigning like froth shall go,Faith be for aye.
Words in this poem
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
“Between Us Now” 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, “Between Us Now”, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/between-us-now.html, id L16895.
Form and metre
“Between Us Now” is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, 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 5.5 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 ABABCCCA hereA · togetherB · wearA · featherB · pastC · fastC · lastC · despairA
- 2 ABABCCC- longA · meB · strongA · meB · disguiseC · wiseC · justifiesC · tongue
- 3 ABABCCC- sayA · meetingB · awayA · beatingB · lowC · slowC · goC · aye
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| BETWEEN us now and here— | 6 | ······ |
| Two thrown together | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Who are not wont to wear | 6 | ······ |
| Life’s flushest feather— | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Who see the scenes slide past, | 6 | ······ |
| The daytimes dimming fast, | 6 | ·/·/˘· |
| Let there be truth at last, | 6 | ······ |
| Even if despair. | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| So thoroughly and long | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Have you now known me, | 5 | ····· |
| So real in faith and strong | 6 | ······ |
| Have I now shown me, | 5 | ····· |
| That nothing needs disguise | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Further in any wise, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Or asks or justifies | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A guarded tongue. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Face unto face, then, say, | 6 | ······ |
| Eyes mine own meeting, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Is your heart far away, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Or with mine beating? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| When false things are brought low, | 6 | ······ |
| And swift things have grown slow, | 6 | ······ |
| Feigning like froth shall go, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Faith be for aye. | 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.