God-Forgotten
I TOWERED far, and lo! I stood withinThe presence of the Lord Most High,Sent thither by the sons of earth, to winSome answer to their cry.
—“The Earth, say’st thou? The Human race?By Me created? Sad its lot?Nay: I have no remembrance of such place:Such world I fashioned not.”—
—“O Lord, forgive me when I sayThou spak’st the word, and mad’st it all.”—“The Earth of men—let me bethink me . . . Yea!I dimly do recall
“Some tiny sphere I built long back(Mid millions of such shapes of mine)So named . . . It perished, surely—not a wrackRemaining, or a sign?
“It lost my interest from the first,My aims therefor succeeding ill;Haply it died of doing as it durst?”—“Lord, it existeth still.”—
“Dark, then, its life! For not a cryOf aught it bears do I now hear;Of its own act the threads were snapt wherebyIts plaints had reached mine ear.
“It used to ask for gifts of good,Till came its severance self-entailed,When sudden silence on that side ensued,And has till now prevailed.
“All other orbs have kept in touch;Their voicings reach me speedily:Thy people took upon them overmuchIn sundering them from me!
“And it is strange—though sad enough—Earth’s race should think that one whose callFrames, daily, shining spheres of flawless stuffMust heed their tainted ball! . . .
“But say’st thou ’tis by pangs distraught,And strife, and silent suffering?—Deep grieved am I that injury should be wroughtEven on so poor a thing!
“Thou should’st have learnt that Not to MendFor Me could mean but Not to Know:Hence, Messengers! and straightway put an endTo what men undergo.” . . .
Homing at dawn, I thought to seeOne of the Messengers standing by.—Oh, childish thought! . . . Yet oft it comes to meWhen trouble hovers nigh.
Words in this poem
- towered a.
- Adorned or defended by towers.
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- wrack n.
- Wreck; ruin; destruction. [OE. wrak wreck. See Wreck.]
- therefor adv.
- For that, or this; for it. [There + for. Cf. Therefore.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- severance n.
- The act of severing, or the state of being severed; partition; separation. Milman.
- flawless a.
- Free from flaws. Boyle.
- distraught p. p.
- Torn asunder; separated. [OE. distract, distrauht. See Distract, a.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
- undergo v. t.
- To go or move below or under. [AS. undergan. See Under, and Go.]
- homing a.
- Home-returning; -- used specifically of carrier pigeons.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
God-Forgotten 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, God-Forgotten, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/god-forgotten.html, id L16881.
Form and metre
God-Forgotten is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 10 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABAB withinA · highB · winA · cryB
- 2 ABAB raceA · lotB · placeA · notB
- 3 ABAB sayA · allB · yeaA · recallB
- 4 ABAB backA · mineB · wrackA · signB
- 5 ABAB firstA · illB · durstA · stillB
- 6 ABAB cryA · hearB · wherebyA · earB
- 7 -A-A good · entailedA · ensued · prevailedA
- 8 A-A- touchA · speedily · overmuchA · me
- 9 ABAB enoughA · callB · stuffA · ballB
- 10 ABAB distraughtA · sufferingB · wroughtA · thingB
- 11 ABAB mendA · knowB · endA · undergoB
- 12 ABAB seeA · byB · meA · nighB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I TOWERED far, and lo! I stood within | 9 | ·/······· |
| The presence of the Lord Most High, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sent thither by the sons of earth, to win | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Some answer to their cry. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| —“The Earth, say’st thou? The Human race? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By Me created? Sad its lot? | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Nay: I have no remembrance of such place: | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Such world I fashioned not.”— | 6 | ···/˘· |
| —“O Lord, forgive me when I say | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Thou spak’st the word, and mad’st it all.”— | 8 | ········ |
| “The Earth of men—let me bethink me . . . Yea! | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| I dimly do recall | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| “Some tiny sphere I built long back | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| (Mid millions of such shapes of mine) | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So named . . . It perished, surely—not a wrack | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Remaining, or a sign? | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| “It lost my interest from the first, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My aims therefor succeeding ill; | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Haply it died of doing as it durst?”— | 9 | /˘···/··· |
| “Lord, it existeth still.”— | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| “Dark, then, its life! For not a cry | 8 | ········ |
| Of aught it bears do I now hear; | 8 | ········ |
| Of its own act the threads were snapt whereby | 10 | ·········· |
| Its plaints had reached mine ear. | 6 | ······ |
| “It used to ask for gifts of good, | 8 | ········ |
| Till came its severance self-entailed, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| When sudden silence on that side ensued, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| And has till now prevailed. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| “All other orbs have kept in touch; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their voicings reach me speedily: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Thy people took upon them overmuch | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| In sundering them from me! | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| “And it is strange—though sad enough— | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Earth’s race should think that one whose call | 8 | ········ |
| Frames, daily, shining spheres of flawless stuff | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Must heed their tainted ball! . . . | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “But say’st thou ’tis by pangs distraught, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And strife, and silent suffering?— | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Deep grieved am I that injury should be wrought | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Even on so poor a thing! | 7 | /˘····· |
| “Thou should’st have learnt that Not to Mend | 8 | ········ |
| For Me could mean but Not to Know: | 8 | ········ |
| Hence, Messengers! and straightway put an end | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| To what men undergo.” . . . | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Homing at dawn, I thought to see | 8 | /˘······ |
| One of the Messengers standing by. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| —Oh, childish thought! . . . Yet oft it comes to me | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| When trouble hovers nigh. | 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.