“I Said to Love”
I SAID to Love,“It is not now as in old daysWhen men adored thee and thy waysAll else above;Named thee the Boy, the Bright, the OneWho spread a heaven beneath the sun,”I said to Love.
I said to him,“We now know more of thee than then;We were but weak in judgment when,With hearts abrim,We clamoured thee that thou would’st pleaseInflict on us thine agonies,”I said to him.
I said to Love,“Thou art not young, thou art not fair,No faery darts, no cherub air,Nor swan, nor doveAre thine; but features pitiless,And iron daggers of distress,”I said to Love.
“Depart then, Love! . . .—Man’s race shall end, dost threaten thou?The age to come the man of nowKnow nothing of?—We fear not such a threat from thee;We are too old in apathy!Mankind shall cease.—So let it be,”I said to Love.
Words in this poem
- cherub n.
- A mysterious composite being, the winged footstool and chariot of the Almighty, described in Ezekiel i. and x. [Heb. kerub.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- 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
“I Said to Love” 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, “I Said to Love”, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/i-said-to-love.html, id L16871.
Form and metre
“I Said to Love” is 29 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBACCA, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.3 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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 ABBACCA loveA · daysB · waysB · aboveA · oneC · sunC · loveA
- 2 ABBACCA himA · thenB · whenB · abrimA · pleaseC · agoniesC · himA
- 3 ABBACCA loveA · fairB · airB · doveA · pitilessC · distressC · loveA
- 4 ABBAC-CA loveA · thouB · nowB · ofA · theeC · apathy · beC · loveA
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 SAID to Love, | 4 | ···· |
| “It is not now as in old days | 8 | ········ |
| When men adored thee and thy ways | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| All else above; | 4 | ···· |
| Named thee the Boy, the Bright, the One | 8 | ········ |
| Who spread a heaven beneath the sun,” | 8 | ···/···· |
| I said to Love. | 4 | ···· |
| I said to him, | 4 | ···· |
| “We now know more of thee than then; | 8 | ········ |
| We were but weak in judgment when, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With hearts abrim, | 4 | ···· |
| We clamoured thee that thou would’st please | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Inflict on us thine agonies,” | 8 | ˘/···/˘˘ |
| I said to him. | 4 | ···· |
| I said to Love, | 4 | ···· |
| “Thou art not young, thou art not fair, | 8 | ········ |
| No faery darts, no cherub air, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor swan, nor dove | 4 | ···· |
| Are thine; but features pitiless, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| And iron daggers of distress,” | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| I said to Love. | 4 | ···· |
| “Depart then, Love! . . . | 4 | ˘/·· |
| —Man’s race shall end, dost threaten thou? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The age to come the man of now | 8 | ········ |
| Know nothing of?— | 4 | ·/˘· |
| We fear not such a threat from thee; | 8 | ········ |
| We are too old in apathy! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Mankind shall cease.—So let it be,” | 8 | //······ |
| I said to Love. | 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.