Her Late Husband (King’s-Hintock, 182–.)
“No—not where I shall make my own;But dig his grave just byThe woman’s with the initialed stone—As near as he can lie—After whose death he seemed to ail,Though none considered why.
“And when I also claim a nook,And your feet tread me in,Bestow me, under my old name,Among my kith and kin,That strangers gazing may not dreamI did a husband win.”
“Widow, your wish shall be obeyed;Though, thought I, certainlyYou’d lay him where your folk are laid,And your grave, too, will be,As custom hath it; you to right,And on the left hand he.”
“Aye, sexton; such the Hintock rule,And none has said it nay;But now it haps a native hereEschews that ancient way . . .And it may be, some Christmas night,When angels walk, they’ll say:
“‘O strange interment! Civilized landsAfford few types thereof;Here is a man who takes his restBeside his very Love,Beside the one who was his wifeIn our sight up above!’”
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,]
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- kith n.
- Acquaintance; kindred. [OE. kith, cu, AS. cc known. Uncouth, Can, and cf. Kythe.]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Her Late Husband (King’s-Hintock, 182–.) 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, Her Late Husband (King’s-Hintock, 182–.), in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/her-late-husband-king-s-hintock-182.html, id L16934.
Form and metre
Her Late Husband (King’s-Hintock, 182–.) is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% 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-B ownA · byB · stoneA · lieB · ail · whyB
- 2 -A-A-A nook · inA · name · kinA · dream · winA
- 3 A-AB-B obeyedA · certainly · laidA · beB · right · heB
- 4 -A-A-A rule · nayA · here · wayA · night · sayA
- 5 -A-A-A lands · thereofA · rest · loveA · wife · aboveA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “No—not where I shall make my own; | 8 | ········ |
| But dig his grave just by | 6 | ······ |
| The woman’s with the initialed stone— | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
| As near as he can lie— | 6 | ······ |
| After whose death he seemed to ail, | 8 | ········ |
| Though none considered why. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| “And when I also claim a nook, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And your feet tread me in, | 6 | ······ |
| Bestow me, under my old name, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Among my kith and kin, | 6 | ······ |
| That strangers gazing may not dream | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| I did a husband win.” | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “Widow, your wish shall be obeyed; | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Though, thought I, certainly | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| You’d lay him where your folk are laid, | 8 | ········ |
| And your grave, too, will be, | 6 | ······ |
| As custom hath it; you to right, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And on the left hand he.” | 6 | ······ |
| “Aye, sexton; such the Hintock rule, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And none has said it nay; | 6 | ······ |
| But now it haps a native here | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Eschews that ancient way . . . | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| And it may be, some Christmas night, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When angels walk, they’ll say: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| “‘O strange interment! Civilized lands | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘·· |
| Afford few types thereof; | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Here is a man who takes his rest | 8 | ········ |
| Beside his very Love, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Beside the one who was his wife | 8 | ˘/······ |
| In our sight up above!’” | 7 | ·/˘···· |
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