The Milkmaid
UNDER a daisied bankThere stands a rich red ruminating cow,And hard against her flankA cotton-hooded milkmaid bends her brow.
The flowery river-oozeUpheaves and falls; the milk purrs in the pail;Few pilgrims but would chooseThe peace of such a life in such a vale.
The maid breathes words—to vent,It seems, her sense of Nature’s scenery,Of whose life, sentiment,And essence, very part itself is she.
She bends a glance of pain,And, at a moment, lets escape a tear;Is it that passing train,Whose alien whirr offends her country ear?—
Nay! Phyllis does not dwellOn visual and familiar things like these;What moves her is the spellOf inner themes and inner poetries:
Could but by Sunday mornHer gay new gown come, meads might dry to dun,Trains shriek till ears were torn,If Fred would not prefer that Other One.
Words in this poem
- daisied a.
- Full of daisies; adorned with daisies.
- milkmaid n.
- A woman who milks cows or is employed in the dairy.
- 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.]
- whirr v. i.
- To whirl round, or revolve, with a whizzing noise; to fly or more quickly with a buzzing or whizzing sound; to whiz.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- fred n.
- Peace; -- a word used in composition, especially in proper names; as, Alfred; Frederic. [AS. fri peace. See Frith inclosure.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Milkmaid 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 Milkmaid, 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-milkmaid.html, id L16926.
Form and metre
The Milkmaid is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% 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.
- 1 ABAB bankA · cowB · flankA · browB
- 2 ABAB oozeA · pailB · chooseA · valeB
- 3 A-A- ventA · scenery · sentimentA · she
- 4 ABAB painA · tearB · trainA · earB
- 5 ABAB dwellA · theseB · spellA · poetriesB
- 6 ABAB mornA · dunB · tornA · oneB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| UNDER a daisied bank | 6 | ···/˘· |
| There stands a rich red ruminating cow, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| And hard against her flank | 6 | ······ |
| A cotton-hooded milkmaid bends her brow. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| The flowery river-ooze | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Upheaves and falls; the milk purrs in the pail; | 10 | ·········· |
| Few pilgrims but would choose | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The peace of such a life in such a vale. | 10 | ·········· |
| The maid breathes words—to vent, | 6 | ······ |
| It seems, her sense of Nature’s scenery, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Of whose life, sentiment, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| And essence, very part itself is she. | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| She bends a glance of pain, | 6 | ······ |
| And, at a moment, lets escape a tear; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Is it that passing train, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Whose alien whirr offends her country ear?— | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Nay! Phyllis does not dwell | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| On visual and familiar things like these; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| What moves her is the spell | 6 | ······ |
| Of inner themes and inner poetries: | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Could but by Sunday morn | 6 | ···/·· |
| Her gay new gown come, meads might dry to dun, | 10 | ·········· |
| Trains shriek till ears were torn, | 6 | ······ |
| If Fred would not prefer that Other One. | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
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.