De Profundis I
WINTERTIME nighs;But my bereavement-painIt cannot bring again:Twice no one dies.
Flower-petals flee;But, since it once hath been,No more that severing sceneCan harrow me.
Birds faint in dread:I shall not lose old strengthIn the lone frost’s black length:Strength long since fled!
Leaves freeze to dun;But friends can not turn coldThis season as of oldFor him with none.
Tempests may scath;But love can not make smartAgain this year his heartWho no heart hath.
Black is night’s cope;But death will not appalOne who, past doubtings all,Waits in unhope.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- scath n.
- Harm; damage; injury; hurt; waste; misfortune. [Icel. skathi; akin to Dan. skade, Sw. skada, AS. sceatha, scatha, foe, injurer, OS. skatho, D. schade, schaden; cf. Gr. Scathe, v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
De Profundis I 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, De Profundis I, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/de-profundis-i.html, id L16936.
Form and metre
De Profundis I is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.1 syllables. 33% 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 ABBA nighsA · painB · againB · diesA
- 2 A--A fleeA · been · scene · meA
- 3 ABBA dreadA · strengthB · lengthB · fledA
- 4 ABBA dunA · coldB · oldB · noneA
- 5 ABBA scathA · smartB · heartB · hathA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WINTERTIME nighs; | 4 | /˘·· |
| But my bereavement-pain | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| It cannot bring again: | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Twice no one dies. | 4 | ···· |
| Flower-petals flee; | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| But, since it once hath been, | 6 | ······ |
| No more that severing scene | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Can harrow me. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Birds faint in dread: | 4 | ···· |
| I shall not lose old strength | 6 | ······ |
| In the lone frost’s black length: | 6 | ······ |
| Strength long since fled! | 4 | ···· |
| Leaves freeze to dun; | 4 | ···· |
| But friends can not turn cold | 6 | ······ |
| This season as of old | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For him with none. | 4 | ···· |
| Tempests may scath; | 4 | /˘·· |
| But love can not make smart | 6 | ······ |
| Again this year his heart | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Who no heart hath. | 4 | ···· |
| Black is night’s cope; | 4 | ···· |
| But death will not appal | 6 | ······ |
| One who, past doubtings all, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Waits in unhope. | 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.