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 pentameter · ABBA · 33 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.

Words in this poem

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.]

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 L19082.

Form and metre

Lausanne, in Gibbon’s Old Garden: 11–12 P.M, June 27, 1897 is 33 lines in 9 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 5 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 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 pentameter.

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

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 pentameter. 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,	6	˘/····
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,	10	/˘·····/˘·
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;	11	·····/˘··/˘
Thou gleam’dst to Joshua’s pausing sun and moon,	10	···/˘/˘···
And brav’dst the tokening sky when Cæsar’s power	11	···/˘˘···/˘
Approached its bloody end: yea, saw’st that Noon	10	˘/·/˘·····
When darkness filled the earth till the ninth hour.	11	·/˘······/˘

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.

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