The Caged Thrush Freed and Home Again (Villanelle)
“MEN know but little more than we,Who count us least of things terrene,How happy days are made to be!
“Of such strange tidings what think ye,O birds in brown that peck and preen?Men know but little more than we!
“When I was borne from yonder treeIn bonds to them, I hoped to gleanHow happy days are made to be,
“And want and wailing turned to glee;Alas, despite their mighty mienMen know but little more than we!
“They cannot change the Frost’s decree,They cannot keep the skies serene;How happy days are made to be
“Eludes great Man’s sagacityNo less than ours, O tribes in treen!Men know but little more than weHow happy days are made to be.”
Words in this poem
- terrene n.
- A tureen. Walpole.
- preen n.
- A forked tool used by clothiers in dressing cloth. [AS. preón a clasp, bodkin; akin to D. priem punch, bodkin, awl, G. pfriem, Icel. prjonn a knitting needle, pin, Dan. preen a bodkin, punch.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- glean n.
- Cleaning; afterbirth. Holland.
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- treen a.
- Made of wood; wooden. [AS. treówen.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Caged Thrush Freed and Home Again (Villanelle) 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, The Caged Thrush Freed and Home Again (Villanelle), in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/the-caged-thrush-freed-and-home-again-villanelle.html, id L16912.
Form and metre
The Caged Thrush Freed and Home Again (Villanelle) is 19 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABA, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends 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.
- 1 A-A weA · terrene · beA
- 2 ABA yeA · preenB · weA
- 3 ABA treeA · gleanB · beA
- 4 ABA gleeA · mienB · weA
- 5 ABA decreeA · sereneB · beA
- 6 -BAA sagacity · treenB · weA · beA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “MEN know but little more than we, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who count us least of things terrene, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| How happy days are made to be! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| “Of such strange tidings what think ye, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O birds in brown that peck and preen? | 8 | ········ |
| Men know but little more than we! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| “When I was borne from yonder tree | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In bonds to them, I hoped to glean | 8 | ········ |
| How happy days are made to be, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| “And want and wailing turned to glee; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Alas, despite their mighty mien | 8 | ˘/˘/·/˘· |
| Men know but little more than we! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| “They cannot change the Frost’s decree, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| They cannot keep the skies serene; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| How happy days are made to be | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| “Eludes great Man’s sagacity | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘˘ |
| No less than ours, O tribes in treen! | 8 | ···/···· |
| Men know but little more than we | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| How happy days are made to be.” | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.