Laurel · Thomas Hardy · Poems of the Past and the Present

Lausanne, in Gibbon’s Old Garden: 11–12 P.M, June 27, 1897

Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) · 1901

iambic tetrameter · 102 lines · from Poems of the Past and the Present

(The 110th anniversary of the completion of the “Decline andFall” at the same hour and place)

A SPIRIT seems to pass,Formal in pose, but grave and grand withal:He contemplates a volume stout and tall,And far lamps fleck him through the thin acacias.

Anon the book is closed,With “It is finished!” And at the alley’s endHe turns, and soon on me his glances bend;And, as from earth, comes speech—small, muted, yet composed.

“How fares the Truth now?—Ill?—Do pens but slily further her advance?May one not speed her but in phrase askance?Do scribes aver the Comic to be Reverend still?

“Still rule those minds on earthAt whom sage Milton’s wormwood words were hurled:‘Truth like a bastard comes into the worldNever without ill-fame to him who gives her birth’?”

(June-July, 1897)

THIRTY-TWO years since, up against the sun,Seven shapes, thin atomies to lower sight,Labouringly leapt and gained thy gabled height,And four lives paid for what the seven had won.

They were the first by whom the deed was done,And when I look at thee, my mind takes flightTo that day’s tragic feat of manly might,As though, till then, of history thou hadst none.

Yet ages ere men topped thee, late and soonThou watch’dst each night the planets lift and lower;Thou gleam’dst to Joshua’s pausing sun and moon,And brav’dst the tokening sky when Cæsar’s powerApproached its bloody end: yea, saw’st that NoonWhen darkness filled the earth till the ninth hour.

(Spring, 1887)

WHEN of tender mind and bodyI was moved by minstrelsy,And that strain “The Bridge of Lodi”Brought a strange delight to me.

In the battle-breathing jingleOf its forward-footing tuneI could see the armies mingle,And the columns cleft and hewn

On that far-famed spot by LodiWhere Napoleon clove his wayTo his fame, when like a god heBent the nations to his sway.

Hence the tune came capering to meWhile I traced the Rhone and Po;Nor could Milan’s Marvel woo meFrom the spot englamoured so.

And to-day, sunlit and smiling,Here I stand upon the scene,With its saffron walls, dun tiling,And its meads of maiden green,

Even as when the trackway thunderedWith the charge of grenadiers,And the blood of forty hundredSplashed its parapets and piers . . .

Any ancient crone I’d toadyLike a lass in young-eyed prime,Could she tell some tale of LodiAt that moving mighty time.

So, I ask the wives of LodiFor traditions of that day;But alas! not anybodySeems to know of such a fray.

And they heed but transitoryMarketings in cheese and meat,Till I judge that Lodi’s storyIs extinct in Lodi’s street.

Yet while here and there they thrid themIn their zest to sell and buy,Let me sit me down amid themAnd behold those thousands die . . .

—Not a creature cares in LodiHow Napoleon swept each arch,Or where up and downward trod he,Or for his memorial March!

So that wherefore should I be here,Watching Adda lip the lea,When the whole romance to see hereIs the dream I bring with me?

And why sing “The Bridge of Lodi”As I sit thereon and swing,When none shows by smile or nod heGuesses why or what I sing? . . .

Since all Lodi, low and head ones,Seem to pass that story by,It may be the Lodi-bred onesRate it truly, and not I.

Once engrossing Bridge of Lodi,Is thy claim to glory gone?Must I pipe a palinody,Or be silent thereupon?

And if here, from strand to steeple,Be no stone to fame the fight,Must I say the Lodi peopleAre but viewing crime aright?

Nay; I’ll sing “The Bridge of Lodi”—That long-loved, romantic thing,Though none show by smile or nod heGuesses why and what I sing!

Words in this poem 21

withal adv.: With this; with that. [With + all.]
fleck n.: A flake; also, a lock, as of wool. J. Martin.
anon adv.: Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
askance adv.: Sideways; obliquely; with a side glance; with disdain, envy, or suspicion. [Cf. D. schuin, schuins, sideways, schuiven to shove, schuinte slope. Cf. Asquint.]
aver n.: A work horse, or working ox. [OF. aver domestic animal, whence LL. averia, pl. cattle. See Habit, and cf. Average.]
reverend a.: Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable. [F. révérend, L. reverendus, fr. revereri. See Revere.]
minstrelsy n.: The arts and occupation of minstrels; the singing and playing of a minstrel.
jingle v. i.: To sound with a fine, sharp, rattling, clinking, or tinkling sound; as, sleigh bells jingle. [OE. gingelen, ginglen; prob. akin to E. chink; cf. also E. jangle.]
napoleon n.: A French gold coin of twenty francs, or about $3.86. [From the Emperor Napoleon 1.]
sunlit a.: Lighted by the sun.
tiling n.: A surface covered with tiles, or composed of tiles.
trackway n.: Any of two or more narrow paths, of steel, smooth stone, or the like, laid in a public roadway otherwise formed of an inferior pavement, as cobblestones, to provide an easy way for wheels.
crone n.: An old ewe. Tusser. [OD. kronie, karonie, an old sheep, OF. carogne, F. charogne, carrion (also F. carogne illnatured woman.). See Carrion, and Crony.]
lass n.: A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
thrid n.: Thread; continuous line.
zest n.: A piece of orange or lemon peel, or the aromatic oil which may be squeezed from such peel, used to give flavor to liquor, etc. [F. zeste, probably fr. L. schistos split, cleft, divided, Gr. Schism.]
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]
wherefore adv.: For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
thereon adv.: On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
thereupon adv.: Upon that or this; thereon.
aright adv.: Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Lausanne, in Gibbon’s Old Garden: 11–12 P.M, June 27, 1897 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, Lausanne, in Gibbon’s Old Garden: 11–12 P.M, June 27, 1897, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/lausanne-in-gibbon-s-old-garden-11-12-p-m-june-27-1897.html, id L16867.

Form and metre

Lausanne, in Gibbon’s Old Garden: 11–12 P.M, June 27, 1897 is 102 lines in 27 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 9 of the 27 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 25 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% 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.

2 -AA- pass · withal^A · tall^A · acacias
3 ABBA closed^A · end^B · bend^B · composed^A
4 ABBA ill^A · advance^B · askance^B · still^A
5 ABBA earth^A · hurled^B · world^B · birth^A
7 ABBA sun^A · sight^B · height^B · won^A
8 ABBA done^A · flight^B · might^B · none^A
9 A-ABAB soon^A · lower · moon^A · power^B · noon^A · hour^B
12 ABAB jingle^A · tune^B · mingle^A · hewn^B
13 -A-A lodi · way^A · he · sway^A
14 ABAB me^A · po^B · me^A · so^B
15 ABAB smiling^A · scene^B · tiling^A · green^B
16 ABAB thundered^A · grenadiers^B · hundred^A · piers^B
17 -A-A toady · prime^A · lodi · time^A
18 -A-A lodi · day^A · anybody · fray^A
19 ABAB transitory^A · meat^B · story^A · street^B
20 ABAB them^A · buy^B · them^A · die^B
21 -A-A lodi · arch^A · he · march^A
22 ABAB here^A · lea^B · here^A · me^B
23 -A-A lodi · swing^A · he · sing^A
24 ABAB ones^A · by^B · ones^A · i^B
26 ABAB steeple^A · fight^B · people^A · aright^B
27 -A-A lodi · thing^A · he · sing^A

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
(The 110th anniversary of the completion of the “Decline and	15	··˘/˘··˘/˘··˘/·
Fall” at the same hour and place)	8	····/˘··
A SPIRIT seems to pass,	6	·/˘···
Formal in pose, but grave and grand withal:	10	/˘······˘/
He contemplates a volume stout and tall,	10	·/˘··/˘···
And far lamps fleck him through the thin acacias.	11	········˘/˘
Anon the book is closed,	7	˘/····˘
With “It is finished!” And at the alley’s end	11	···/˘···/˘·
He turns, and soon on me his glances bend;	10	·······/˘·
And, as from earth, comes speech—small, muted, yet composed.	12	·······/˘·˘/
“How fares the Truth now?—Ill?	6	······
—Do pens but slily further her advance?	10	···/˘/˘·˘/
May one not speed her but in phrase askance?	10	········˘/
Do scribes aver the Comic to be Reverend still?	12	··/˘·/˘··/˘·
“Still rule those minds on earth	6	······
At whom sage Milton’s wormwood words were hurled:	10	···/˘/····
‘Truth like a bastard comes into the world	10	···/˘·····
Never without ill-fame to him who gives her birth’?”	11	/··········
(June-July, 1897)	3	··/
THIRTY-TWO years since, up against the sun,	10	/˘········
Seven shapes, thin atomies to lower sight,	8	/·····/·
Labouringly leapt and gained thy gabled height,	11	········/˘·
And four lives paid for what the seven had won.	10	·······/··
They were the first by whom the deed was done,	10	··········
And when I look at thee, my mind takes flight	10	··········
To that day’s tragic feat of manly might,	10	···/˘··/˘·
As though, till then, of history thou hadst none.	10	·····/˘···
Yet ages ere men topped thee, late and soon	10	·/˘·······
Thou watch’dst each night the planets lift and lower;	10	·····/˘··/
Thou gleam’dst to Joshua’s pausing sun and moon,	10	···/˘/˘···
And brav’dst the tokening sky when Cæsar’s power	9	···/˘···/
Approached its bloody end: yea, saw’st that Noon	10	˘/·/˘·····
When darkness filled the earth till the ninth hour.	10	·/˘······/
(Spring, 1887)	1	·
WHEN of tender mind and body	8	··/˘··/˘
I was moved by minstrelsy,	8	···˘·/˘˘
And that strain “The Bridge of Lodi”	8	······/˘
Brought a strange delight to me.	7	···˘/··
In the battle-breathing jingle	8	··/˘/˘/˘
Of its forward-footing tune	7	··/˘/˘·
I could see the armies mingle,	8	····/˘/˘
And the columns cleft and hewn	7	··/˘···
On that far-famed spot by Lodi	8	······/˘
Where Napoleon clove his way	8	·˘/˘˘···
To his fame, when like a god he	8	········
Bent the nations to his sway.	7	··/˘···
Hence the tune came capering to me	8	····/˘··
While I traced the Rhone and Po;	8	···˘····
Nor could Milan’s Marvel woo me	8	··˘//˘··
From the spot englamoured so.	8	······˘·
And to-day, sunlit and smiling,	8	···/··/˘
Here I stand upon the scene,	7	·······
With its saffron walls, dun tiling,	8	··/˘··/˘
And its meads of maiden green,	7	····/˘·
Even as when the trackway thundered	9	/˘···/˘/˘
With the charge of grenadiers,	7	·······
And the blood of forty hundred	8	····/˘/˘
Splashed its parapets and piers . . .	8	·˘·/˘···
Any ancient crone I’d toady	8	/˘/˘··/˘
Like a lass in young-eyed prime,	7	·······
Could she tell some tale of Lodi	8	······/˘
At that moving mighty time.	7	··/˘/˘·
So, I ask the wives of Lodi	8	······/˘
For traditions of that day;	7	·˘/˘···
But alas! not anybody	8	·˘/·/˘˘˘
Seems to know of such a fray.	7	·······
And they heed but transitory	8	····/˘·˘
Marketings in cheese and meat,	7	/˘˘····
Till I judge that Lodi’s story	8	····/˘/˘
Is extinct in Lodi’s street.	7	·˘/·/˘·
Yet while here and there they thrid them	8	········
In their zest to sell and buy,	7	·······
Let me sit me down amid them	8	·····˘/·
And behold those thousands die . . .	7	·˘/·/˘·
—Not a creature cares in Lodi	8	··/˘··/˘
How Napoleon swept each arch,	8	·˘/˘˘···
Or where up and downward trod he,	8	····/˘··
Or for his memorial March!	8	···˘/˘˘·
So that wherefore should I be here,	8	··/˘····
Watching Adda lip the lea,	7	/˘·····
When the whole romance to see here	8	···˘/···
Is the dream I bring with me?	7	·······
And why sing “The Bridge of Lodi”	8	······/˘
As I sit thereon and swing,	7	···˘/··
When none shows by smile or nod he	8	········
Guesses why or what I sing? . . .	7	/˘·····
Since all Lodi, low and head ones,	8	··/˘····
Seem to pass that story by,	7	····/˘·
It may be the Lodi-bred ones	8	····/˘··
Rate it truly, and not I.	7	··/˘···
Once engrossing Bridge of Lodi,	8	·˘/˘··/˘
Is thy claim to glory gone?	7	····/˘·
Must I pipe a palinody,	8	····/˘˘˘
Or be silent thereupon?	7	··/˘·˘/
And if here, from strand to steeple,	8	······/˘
Be no stone to fame the fight,	7	·······
Must I say the Lodi people	8	····/˘/˘
Are but viewing crime aright?	7	··/˘·˘/
Nay; I’ll sing “The Bridge of Lodi”—	8	······/˘
That long-loved, romantic thing,	8	···˘˘/˘·
Though none show by smile or nod he	8	········
Guesses why and what I sing!	7	/˘·····

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.

More by Thomas Hardy

Wessex Poems and Other Verses Poems of the Past and the Present