To Lizbie Browne
DEAR Lizbie Browne,Where are you now?In sun, in rain?—Or is your browPast joy, past pain,Dear Lizbie Browne?
Sweet Lizbie BrowneHow you could smile,How you could sing!—How archly wileIn glance-giving,Sweet Lizbie Browne!
And, Lizbie Browne,Who else had hairBay-red as yours,Or flesh so fairBred out of doors,Sweet Lizbie Browne?
When, Lizbie Browne,You had just begunTo be endearedBy stealth to one,You disappearedMy Lizbie Browne!
Ay, Lizbie Browne,So swift your life,And mine so slow,You were a wifeEre I could showLove, Lizbie Browne.
Still, Lizbie Browne,You won, they said,The best of menWhen you were wed . . .Where went you then,O Lizbie Browne?
Dear Lizbie Browne,I should have thought,“Girls ripen fast,”And coaxed and caughtYou ere you passed,Dear Lizbie Browne!
But, Lizbie Browne,I let you slip;Shaped not a sign;Touched never your lipWith lip of mine,Lost Lizbie Browne!
So, Lizbie Browne,When on a dayMen speak of meAs not, you’ll say,“And who was he?”—Yes, Lizbie Browne!
Words in this poem
- archly adv.
- In an arch manner; with attractive slyness or roguishness; slyly; waggishly.
- wile n.
- A trick or stratagem practiced for insnaring or deception; a sly, insidious; artifice; a beguilement; an allurement. [OE. wile, AS. wil; cf. Icel. v, væl. Cf. Guile.]
- stealth n.
- The act of stealing; theft. [OE. staple. See Steal, v. t.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Lizbie Browne 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, To Lizbie Browne, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/to-lizbie-browne.html, id L16889.
Form and metre
To Lizbie Browne is 54 lines in 9 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABCBCA. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 ABCBCA browneA · nowB · rainC · browB · painC · browneA
- 2 ABCBCA browneA · smileB · singC · wileB · givingC · browneA
- 3 ABCBCA browneA · hairB · yoursC · fairB · doorsC · browneA
- 4 ABCBCA browneA · begunB · endearedC · oneB · disappearedC · browneA
- 5 ABCBCA browneA · lifeB · slowC · wifeB · showC · browneA
- 6 ABCBCA browneA · saidB · menC · wedB · thenC · browneA
- 7 ABCBCA browneA · thoughtB · fastC · caughtB · passedC · browneA
- 8 ABCBCA browneA · slipB · signC · lipB · mineC · browneA
- 9 ABCBCA browneA · dayB · meC · sayB · heC · browneA
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| DEAR Lizbie Browne, | 4 | ···· |
| Where are you now? | 4 | ···· |
| In sun, in rain?— | 4 | ···· |
| Or is your brow | 4 | ···· |
| Past joy, past pain, | 4 | ···· |
| Dear Lizbie Browne? | 4 | ···· |
| Sweet Lizbie Browne | 4 | ···· |
| How you could smile, | 4 | ···· |
| How you could sing!— | 4 | ···· |
| How archly wile | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In glance-giving, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Sweet Lizbie Browne! | 4 | ···· |
| And, Lizbie Browne, | 4 | ···· |
| Who else had hair | 4 | ···· |
| Bay-red as yours, | 4 | ···· |
| Or flesh so fair | 4 | ···· |
| Bred out of doors, | 4 | ···· |
| Sweet Lizbie Browne? | 4 | ···· |
| When, Lizbie Browne, | 4 | ···· |
| You had just begun | 5 | ···˘/ |
| To be endeared | 4 | ··˘/ |
| By stealth to one, | 4 | ···· |
| You disappeared | 4 | ··˘/ |
| My Lizbie Browne! | 4 | ···· |
| Ay, Lizbie Browne, | 4 | ···· |
| So swift your life, | 4 | ···· |
| And mine so slow, | 4 | ···· |
| You were a wife | 4 | ···· |
| Ere I could show | 4 | ···· |
| Love, Lizbie Browne. | 4 | ···· |
| Still, Lizbie Browne, | 4 | ···· |
| You won, they said, | 4 | ···· |
| The best of men | 4 | ···· |
| When you were wed . . . | 4 | ···· |
| Where went you then, | 4 | ···· |
| O Lizbie Browne? | 4 | ···· |
| Dear Lizbie Browne, | 4 | ···· |
| I should have thought, | 4 | ···· |
| “Girls ripen fast,” | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And coaxed and caught | 4 | ···· |
| You ere you passed, | 4 | ···· |
| Dear Lizbie Browne! | 4 | ···· |
| But, Lizbie Browne, | 4 | ···· |
| I let you slip; | 4 | ···· |
| Shaped not a sign; | 4 | ···· |
| Touched never your lip | 4 | ·/·· |
| With lip of mine, | 4 | ···· |
| Lost Lizbie Browne! | 4 | ···· |
| So, Lizbie Browne, | 4 | ···· |
| When on a day | 4 | ···· |
| Men speak of me | 4 | ···· |
| As not, you’ll say, | 4 | ···· |
| “And who was he?”— | 4 | ···· |
| Yes, Lizbie Browne! | 4 | ···· |
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.