The Inconsistent
I SAY, “She was as good as fair,”When standing by her mound;“Such passing sweetness,” I declare,“No longer treads the ground.”I say, “What living Love can catchHer bloom and bonhomie,And what in newer maidens matchHer olden warmth to me!”
—There stands within yon vestry-nookWhere bonded lovers sign,Her name upon a faded bookWith one that is not mine.To him she breathed the tender vowShe once had breathed to me,But yet I say, “O love, even nowWould I had died for thee!”
Words in this poem
- bonhomie n.
- good nature; pleasant and easy manner. [F.]
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Inconsistent 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 Inconsistent, 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-inconsistent.html, id L16893.
Form and metre
The Inconsistent is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 38% 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 ABABC-C- fairA · moundB · declareA · groundB · catchC · bonhomie · matchC · me
- 2 ABABCDCD nookA · signB · bookA · mineB · vowC · meD · nowC · theeD
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 SAY, “She was as good as fair,” | 8 | ········ |
| When standing by her mound; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| “Such passing sweetness,” I declare, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| “No longer treads the ground.” | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I say, “What living Love can catch | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her bloom and bonhomie, | 6 | ······ |
| And what in newer maidens match | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Her olden warmth to me!” | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| —There stands within yon vestry-nook | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where bonded lovers sign, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Her name upon a faded book | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With one that is not mine. | 6 | ······ |
| To him she breathed the tender vow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She once had breathed to me, | 7 | ····˘·· |
| But yet I say, “O love, even now | 8 | ······/· |
| Would I had died for thee!” | 6 | ······ |
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.