The Lost Pyx a Mediæval Legend
SOME say the spot is banned; that the pillar Cross-and-HandAttests to a deed of hell;But of else than of bale is the mystic taleThat ancient Vale-folk tell.
Ere Cernel’s Abbey ceased hereabout there dwelt a priest,(In later life sub-priorOf the brotherhood there, whose bones are now bareIn the field that was Cernel choir).
One night in his cell at the foot of yon dellThe priest heard a frequent cry:“Go, father, in haste to the cot on the waste,And shrive a man waiting to die.”
Said the priest in a shout to the caller without,“The night howls, the tree-trunks bow;One may barely by day track so rugged a way,And can I then do so now?”
No further word from the dark was heard,And the priest moved never a limb;And he slept and dreamed; till a Visage seemedTo frown from Heaven at him.
In a sweat he arose; and the storm shrieked shrill,And smote as in savage joy;While High-Stoy trees twanged to Bubb-Down Hill,And Bubb-Down to High-Stoy.
There seemed not a holy thing in hail,Nor shape of light or love,From the Abbey north of Blackmore ValeTo the Abbey south thereof.
Yet he plodded thence through the dark immense,And with many a stumbling strideThrough copse and briar climbed nigh and nigherTo the cot and the sick man’s side.
When he would have unslung the Vessels uphungTo his arm in the steep ascent,He made loud moan: the Pyx was goneOf the Blessed Sacrament.
Then in dolorous dread he beat his head:“No earthly prize or pelfIs the thing I’ve lost in tempest tossed,But the Body of Christ Himself!”
He thought of the Visage his dream revealed,And turned towards whence he came,Hands groping the ground along foot-track and field,And head in a heat of shame.
Till here on the hill, betwixt vill and vill,He noted a clear straight rayStretching down from the sky to a spot hard by,Which shone with the light of day.
And gathered around the illumined groundWere common beasts and rare,All kneeling at gaze, and in pause profoundAttent on an object there.
’Twas the Pyx, unharmed ’mid the circling rowsOf Blackmore’s hairy throng,Whereof were oxen, sheep, and does,And hares from the brakes among;
And badgers grey, and conies keen,And squirrels of the tree,And many a member seldom seenOf Nature’s family.
The ireful winds that scoured and sweptThrough coppice, clump, and dell,Within that holy circle sleptCalm as in hermit’s cell.
Then the priest bent likewise to the sodAnd thanked the Lord of Love,And Blessed Mary, Mother of God,And all the saints above.
And turning straight with his priceless freight,He reached the dying one,Whose passing sprite had been stayed for the riteWithout which bliss hath none.
And when by grace the priest won place,And served the Abbey well,He reared this stone to mark where shoneThat midnight miracle.
Words in this poem 21
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- shrive v. t.
- To hear or receive the confession of; to administer confession and absolution to; -- said of a priest as the agent. [OE. shriven, schriven, AS. scrivan to shrive, to impose penance or punishment; akin to OFries. skriva to impose punishment; cf. OS. biskriban to be troubled. Cf]
- caller a.
- Cool; refreshing; fresh; as, a caller day; the caller air.
- visage n.
- The face, countenance, or look of a person or an animal; -- chiefly applied to the human face. [F. visage, from L. visus a seeing, a look, fr. videre, visum, to see. See Vision.]
- stride v. t.
- To walk with long steps, especially in a measured or pompous manner. [AS. stridan to stride, to strive; akin to LG. striden, OFries. strida to strive, D. strijden to strive, to contend, G. streiten, OHG. stritan; of uncertain orig]
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
- briar n.
- A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax. [OE. brere, brer, AS. brer, brær; cf. Ir. briar prickle, thorn, brier, pin, Gael. preas bush, brier, W. prys, prysg.]
- sacrament n.
- The oath of allegiance taken by Roman soldiers; hence, a sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath. [L. sacramentum an oath, a sacred thing, a mystery, a sacrament, fr. sacrare to declare as sacred, sacer sacred: cf. F. sacrament. See Sacred.]
- dolorous a.
- Full of grief; sad; sorrowful; doleful; dismal; as, a dolorous object; dolorous discourses. [L. dolorosus, from dolor: cf. F. douloureux. See Dolor.]
- pelf n.
- Money; riches; lucre; gain; -- generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten or worthless. It has no plural. [OE. pelfir booty, OF. pelfre, akin to pelfrer to plunder, and perh. to E. pillage. Cf. Pilfer.]
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
- vill n.
- A small collection of houses; a village. [OF. ville, vile, a village, F. ville a town, city. See Villa.]
- attent a.
- Attentive; heedful. [L. attentus, p. p. of attendere. See Attend, v. t.]
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- ireful a.
- Full of ire; angry; wroth.
- coppice n.
- A grove of small growth; a thicket of brushwood; a wood cut at certain times for fuel or other purposes. See Copse. [OF. copeiz, fr. coper, couper, to cut, F. couper, fr. cop, coup, colp, a blow, F. coup, L. colaphus, fr. G. Copse, and cf. Coup, Coupee.]
- priceless a.
- Too valuable to admit of being appraised; of inestimable worth; invaluable.
- sprite n.
- A spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition. See Spright. [OE. sprit, F. esprit, fr. L. spiritus. See Spirit, and cf. Sprightly.]
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lost Pyx a Mediæval Legend 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 Lost Pyx a Mediæval Legend, 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-lost-pyx-a-medi-val-legend.html, id L16940.
Form and metre
The Lost Pyx a Mediæval Legend is 76 lines in 19 stanzas of 4 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 6 of the 19 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 hand · hellA · tale · tellA
- 2 -A-A priest · priorA · bare · choirA
- 3 -A-A dell · cryA · waste · dieA
- 4 -A-A without · bowA · way · nowA
- 5 -A-A heard · limbA · seemed · himA
- 6 ABAB shrillA · joyB · hillA · stoyB
- 7 ABAB hailA · loveB · valeA · thereofB
- 8 -A-A immense · strideA · nigher · sideA
- 9 -A-A uphung · ascentA · gone · sacramentA
- 10 -A-A head · pelfA · tossed · himselfA
- 11 ABAB revealedA · cameB · fieldA · shameB
- 12 -A-A vill · rayA · by · dayA
- 13 ABAB groundA · rareB · profoundA · thereB
- 15 A-A- keenA · tree · seenA · family
- 16 ABAB sweptA · dellB · sleptA · cellB
- 17 ABAB sodA · loveB · godA · aboveB
- 18 -A-A freight · oneA · rite · noneA
- 19 -A-A place · wellA · shone · miracleA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| SOME say the spot is banned; that the pillar Cross-and-Hand | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| Attests to a deed of hell; | 7 | ˘/····· |
| But of else than of bale is the mystic tale | 11 | ········/˘· |
| That ancient Vale-folk tell. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Ere Cernel’s Abbey ceased hereabout there dwelt a priest, | 13 | ···/˘·/˘····· |
| (In later life sub-prior | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Of the brotherhood there, whose bones are now bare | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| In the field that was Cernel choir). | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| One night in his cell at the foot of yon dell | 11 | ··········· |
| The priest heard a frequent cry: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| “Go, father, in haste to the cot on the waste, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| And shrive a man waiting to die.” | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Said the priest in a shout to the caller without, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| “The night howls, the tree-trunks bow; | 7 | ······· |
| One may barely by day track so rugged a way, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| And can I then do so now?” | 7 | ······· |
| No further word from the dark was heard, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And the priest moved never a limb; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And he slept and dreamed; till a Visage seemed | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To frown from Heaven at him. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| In a sweat he arose; and the storm shrieked shrill, | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| And smote as in savage joy; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| While High-Stoy trees twanged to Bubb-Down Hill, | 9 | ········· |
| And Bubb-Down to High-Stoy. | 6 | ······ |
| There seemed not a holy thing in hail, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Nor shape of light or love, | 6 | ······ |
| From the Abbey north of Blackmore Vale | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| To the Abbey south thereof. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Yet he plodded thence through the dark immense, | 10 | ··/˘····˘/ |
| And with many a stumbling stride | 8 | ··/·/˘˘· |
| Through copse and briar climbed nigh and nigher | 9 | ···/····· |
| To the cot and the sick man’s side. | 8 | ········ |
| When he would have unslung the Vessels uphung | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| To his arm in the steep ascent, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He made loud moan: the Pyx was gone | 8 | ········ |
| Of the Blessed Sacrament. | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Then in dolorous dread he beat his head: | 10 | ··/˘˘····· |
| “No earthly prize or pelf | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Is the thing I’ve lost in tempest tossed, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| But the Body of Christ Himself!” | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| He thought of the Visage his dream revealed, | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| And turned towards whence he came, | 8 | ··˘····· |
| Hands groping the ground along foot-track and field, | 11 | ·/˘··˘/···· |
| And head in a heat of shame. | 7 | ······· |
| Till here on the hill, betwixt vill and vill, | 10 | ·····˘/··· |
| He noted a clear straight ray | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Stretching down from the sky to a spot hard by, | 11 | /˘········· |
| Which shone with the light of day. | 7 | ······· |
| And gathered around the illumined ground | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Were common beasts and rare, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| All kneeling at gaze, and in pause profound | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Attent on an object there. | 7 | ˘/··˘/· |
| ’Twas the Pyx, unharmed ’mid the circling rows | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| Of Blackmore’s hairy throng, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Whereof were oxen, sheep, and does, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And hares from the brakes among; | 7 | ······· |
| And badgers grey, and conies keen, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And squirrels of the tree, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And many a member seldom seen | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| Of Nature’s family. | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| The ireful winds that scoured and swept | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Through coppice, clump, and dell, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Within that holy circle slept | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Calm as in hermit’s cell. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Then the priest bent likewise to the sod | 9 | ····/···· |
| And thanked the Lord of Love, | 7 | ··˘···· |
| And Blessed Mary, Mother of God, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| And all the saints above. | 6 | ······ |
| And turning straight with his priceless freight, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| He reached the dying one, | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| Whose passing sprite had been stayed for the rite | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Without which bliss hath none. | 6 | ······ |
| And when by grace the priest won place, | 8 | ········ |
| And served the Abbey well, | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| He reared this stone to mark where shone | 8 | ········ |
| That midnight miracle. | 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.