Doom and She
THERE dwells a mighty pair—Slow, statuesque, intense—Amid the vague Immense:None can their chronicle declare,Nor why they be, nor whence.
Mother of all things made,Matchless in artistry,Unlit with sight is she.—And though her ever well-obeyedVacant of feeling he.
The Matron mildly asks—A throb in every word—“Our clay-made creatures, lord,How fare they in their mortal tasksUpon Earth’s bounded bord?
“The fate of those I bear,Dear lord, pray turn and view,And notify me true;Shapings that eyelessly I dareMaybe I would undo.
“Sometimes from lairs of lifeMethinks I catch a groan,Or multitudinous moan,As though I had schemed a world of strife,Working by touch alone.”
“World-weaver!” he replies,“I scan all thy domain;But since nor joy nor painDoth my clear substance recognize,I read thy realms in vain.
“World-weaver! what is Grief?And what are Right, and Wrong,And Feeling, that belongTo creatures all who owe thee fief?What worse is Weak than Strong?” . . .
—Unlightened, curious, meek,She broods in sad surmise . . .—Some say they have heard her sighsOn Alpine height or Polar peakWhen the night tempests rise.
Words in this poem
- statuesque a.
- Partaking of, or exemplifying, the characteristics of a statue; having the symmetry, or other excellence, of a statue artistically made; as, statuesquelimbs; a statuesque attitude.
- 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]
- artistry n.
- Works of art collectively.
- throb v. i.
- To beat, or pulsate, with more than usual force or rapidity; to beat in consequence of agitation; to palpitate; -- said of the heart, pulse, etc. [OE. ; of uncertain origin; cf. Russ. trepete a trembling, and E. trepidation.]
- bord n.
- A board; a table. [See Board, n.]
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- multitudinous a.
- Consisting of a multitude; manifold in number or condition; as, multitudinous waves.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- scan v. t.
- To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. [L. scandere, scansum, to climb, to scan, akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap: cf. F. scander. Cf. Ascend, Descend, Scale a ladder.]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Doom and She 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, Doom and She, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/doom-and-she.html, id L16876.
Form and metre
Doom and She is 40 lines in 8 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBAB, complete in 7 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% 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 ABBAB pairA · intenseB · immenseB · declareA · whenceB
- 2 A-BAB madeA · artistry · sheB · obeyedA · heB
- 3 ABBAB asksA · wordB · lordB · tasksA · bordB
- 4 ABBAB bearA · viewB · trueB · dareA · undoB
- 5 ABBAB lifeA · groanB · moanB · strifeA · aloneB
- 6 ABBAB repliesA · domainB · painB · recognizeA · vainB
- 7 ABBAB griefA · wrongB · belongB · fiefA · strongB
- 8 ABBAB meekA · surmiseB · sighsB · peakA · riseB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THERE dwells a mighty pair— | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Slow, statuesque, intense— | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| Amid the vague Immense: | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| None can their chronicle declare, | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| Nor why they be, nor whence. | 6 | ······ |
| Mother of all things made, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Matchless in artistry, | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Unlit with sight is she.— | 6 | ······ |
| And though her ever well-obeyed | 7 | ···/·˘/ |
| Vacant of feeling he. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| The Matron mildly asks— | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| A throb in every word— | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “Our clay-made creatures, lord, | 6 | /··/˘· |
| How fare they in their mortal tasks | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Upon Earth’s bounded bord? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “The fate of those I bear, | 6 | ······ |
| Dear lord, pray turn and view, | 6 | ······ |
| And notify me true; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Shapings that eyelessly I dare | 8 | /˘······ |
| Maybe I would undo. | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| “Sometimes from lairs of life | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Methinks I catch a groan, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Or multitudinous moan, | 7 | ······· |
| As though I had schemed a world of strife, | 9 | ········· |
| Working by touch alone.” | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| “World-weaver!” he replies, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| “I scan all thy domain; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But since nor joy nor pain | 6 | ······ |
| Doth my clear substance recognize, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| I read thy realms in vain. | 6 | ······ |
| “World-weaver! what is Grief? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And what are Right, and Wrong, | 6 | ······ |
| And Feeling, that belong | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| To creatures all who owe thee fief? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| What worse is Weak than Strong?” . . . | 6 | ······ |
| —Unlightened, curious, meek, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| She broods in sad surmise . . . | 6 | ····˘/ |
| —Some say they have heard her sighs | 7 | ······· |
| On Alpine height or Polar peak | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| When the night tempests rise. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.