The Lacking Sense
“O TIME, whence comes the Mother’s moody look amid her labours,As of one who all unwittingly has wounded where she loves?Why weaves she not her world-webs to according lutes and tabors,With nevermore this too remorseful air upon her face,As of angel fallen from grace?”
—“Her look is but her story: construe not its symbols keenly:In her wonderworks yea surely has she wounded where she loves.The sense of ills misdealt for blisses blanks the mien mostqueenly,Self-smitings kill self-joys; and everywhere beneath the sunSuch deeds her hands have done.”
—“And how explains thy Ancient Mind her crimes upon her creatures,These fallings from her fair beginnings, woundings where she loves,Into her would-be perfect motions, modes, effects, and featuresAdmitting cramps, black humours, wan decay, and baleful blights,Distress into delights?”
—“Ah! know’st thou not her secret yet, her vainly veiled deficience,Whence it comes that all unwittingly she wounds the lives sheloves?That sightless are those orbs of hers?—which bar to her omniscienceBrings those fearful unfulfilments, that red ravage through her zonesWhereat all creation groans.
“She whispers it in each pathetic strenuous slow endeavour,When in mothering she unwittingly sets wounds on what she loves;Yet her primal doom pursues her, faultful, fatal is she ever;Though so deft and nigh to vision is her facile finger-touchThat the seers marvel much.
“Deal, then, her groping skill no scorn, no note of malediction;Not long on thee will press the hand that hurts the lives it loves;And while she dares dead-reckoning on, in darkness of affliction,Assist her where thy creaturely dependence can or may,For thou art of her clay.”
Words in this poem 19
- 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]
- nevermore adv.
- Never again; at no time hereafter. Testament of Love. Tyndale.
- remorseful a.
- Full of remorse.
- keenly adv.
- In a keen manner.
- queenly a.
- Like, becoming, or suitable to, a queen. [AS. cwenlic feminine.]
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- sightless a.
- Wanting sight; without sight; blind.
- omniscience n.
- The quality or state of being omniscient; -- an attribute peculiar to God. [Cf. F. omniscience.]
- whereat adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
- pathetic a.
- Expressing or showing anger; passionate. [L. patheticus, Gr. pathétique. See Pathos.]
- strenuous a.
- Eagerly pressing or urgent; zealous; ardent; earnest; bold; valiant; intrepid; as, a strenuous advocate for national rights; a strenuous reformer; a strenuous defender of his country.
- endeavour v. t.
- To exert physical or intellectual strength for the attainment of; to use efforts to effect; to strive to achieve or reach; to try; to attempt. [OE. endevor; pref. en- + dever, devoir, duty, F. devoir: cf. F. se mettre en devoir de faire quelque chose to try to do a thing, to go about it. See Devoir, Deb]
- mothering n.
- A rural custom in England, of visiting one's parents on Midlent Sunday, -- supposed to have been originally visiting the mother church to make offerings at the high altar.
- primal a.
- First; primary; original; chief. [LL. primalis, fr. L. primus the first. See Prime, a.]
- faultful a.
- Full of faults or sins.
- deft a.
- Apt; fit; dexterous; clever; handy; spruce; neat. [OE. daft, deft, becoming, mild, gentle, stupid (cf. OE. daffe, deffe, fool, coward), AS. dæft (in derivatives only) mild, gentle, fitting, seasonable; akin to d]
- facile a.
- Easy to be done or performed: not difficult; performable or attainable with little labor. [L. facilis, prop., capable of being done or made, hence, facile, easy, fr. facere to make, do: cf. F. facile. Srr Fact, and cf. Faculty.]
- malediction n.
- A proclaiming of evil against some one; a cursing; imprecation; a curse or execration; -- opposed to benediction. [L. maledictio: cf. F. malédiction. See Maledicent.]
- creaturely a.
- Creatural; characteristic of a creature.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lacking Sense 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 Lacking Sense, 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-lacking-sense.html, id L16874.
Form and metre
The Lacking Sense is 32 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.2 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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-ABB laboursA · loves · taborsA · faceB · graceB
- 2 A--ABB keenlyA · loves · most · queenlyA · sunB · doneB
- 3 A-A-- creaturesA · loves · featuresA · blights · delights
- 4 A--ABB deficienceA · she · loves · omniscienceA · zonesB · groansB
- 5 A-ABB endeavourA · loves · everA · touchB · muchB
- 6 A-ABB maledictionA · loves · afflictionA · mayB · clayB
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| “O TIME, whence comes the Mother’s moody look amid her labours, | 15 | ·····/˘/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| As of one who all unwittingly has wounded where she loves? | 14 | ·····˘/˘·/˘··· |
| Why weaves she not her world-webs to according lutes and tabors, | 15 | ········˘/˘··/˘ |
| With nevermore this too remorseful air upon her face, | 14 | ·/˘···˘/˘····· |
| As of angel fallen from grace?” | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| —“Her look is but her story: construe not its symbols keenly: | 15 | ·····/˘˘/··/˘/˘ |
| In her wonderworks yea surely has she wounded where she loves. | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| The sense of ills misdealt for blisses blanks the mien most | 13 | ·······/˘···· |
| queenly, | 2 | /˘ |
| Self-smitings kill self-joys; and everywhere beneath the sun | 14 | ·······/˘····· |
| Such deeds her hands have done.” | 6 | ······ |
| —“And how explains thy Ancient Mind her crimes upon her creatures, | 15 | ··˘/·/˘······/˘ |
| These fallings from her fair beginnings, woundings where she loves, | 14 | ·/˘···˘/˘/˘··· |
| Into her would-be perfect motions, modes, effects, and features | 15 | ·····/·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Admitting cramps, black humours, wan decay, and baleful blights, | 14 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Distress into delights?” | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| —“Ah! know’st thou not her secret yet, her vainly veiled deficience, | 15 | ·····/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Whence it comes that all unwittingly she wounds the lives she | 13 | ·····˘/˘····· |
| loves? | 1 | · |
| That sightless are those orbs of hers?—which bar to her omniscience | 15 | ·/˘·········˘/˘ |
| Brings those fearful unfulfilments, that red ravage through her zones | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| Whereat all creation groans. | 7 | ˘/·˘/˘· |
| “She whispers it in each pathetic strenuous slow endeavour, | 15 | ·/˘···˘/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| When in mothering she unwittingly sets wounds on what she loves; | 14 | ··/˘·˘/˘······ |
| Yet her primal doom pursues her, faultful, fatal is she ever; | 15 | ··/˘·˘/·/˘/˘··/ |
| Though so deft and nigh to vision is her facile finger-touch | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/˘· |
| That the seers marvel much. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “Deal, then, her groping skill no scorn, no note of malediction; | 15 | ···/˘·········· |
| Not long on thee will press the hand that hurts the lives it loves; | 14 | ·············· |
| And while she dares dead-reckoning on, in darkness of affliction, | 15 | ·····/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Assist her where thy creaturely dependence can or may, | 14 | ˘/···/˘˘˘/˘··· |
| For thou art of her clay.” | 6 | ······ |
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