At Castle Boterel
As I drive to the junction of lane and highway,And the drizzle bedrenches the waggonette,I look behind at the fading byway,And see on its slope, now glistening wet,Distinctly yet
Myself and a girlish form benightedIn dry March weather. We climb the roadBeside a chaise. We had just alightedTo ease the sturdy pony’s loadWhen he sighed and slowed.
What we did as we climbed, and what we talked ofMatters not much, nor to what it led,—Something that life will not be balked ofWithout rude reason till hope is dead,And feeling fled.
It filled but a minute. But was there everA time of such quality, since or before,In that hill’s story? To one mind never,Though it has been climbed, foot-swift, foot-sore,By thousands more.
Primaeval rocks form the road’s steep border,And much have they faced there, first and last,Of the transitory in Earth’s long order;But what they record in colour and castIs—that we two passed.
And to me, though Time’s unflinching rigour,In mindless rote, has ruled from sightThe substance now, one phantom figureRemains on the slope, as when that nightSaw us alight.
I look and see it there, shrinking, shrinking,I look back at it amid the rainFor the very last time; for my sand is sinking,And I shall traverse old love’s domainNever again.
Words in this poem
- drizzle v. i.
- To rain slightly in very small drops; to fall, as water from the clouds, slowly and in fine particles; as, it drizzles; drizzling drops or rain. [Prop. freq. of AS. dreósan to fall. See Dreary.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- byway n.
- A secluded, private, or obscure way; a path or road aside from the main one.
- girlish a.
- Like, or characteristic of, a girl; of or pertaining to girlhood; innocent; artless; immature; weak; as, girlish ways; girlish grief.
- chaise n.
- A two-wheeled carriage for two persons, with a calash top, and the body hung on leather straps, or thoroughbraces. It is usually drawn by one horse. [F. chaise seat, or chair, chaise or carriage, for chaire, from a peculiar Parisian pronunciation. See Chair.]
- unflinching a.
- Not flinching or shrinking; unyielding.
- rigour n.
- Rigidity; stiffness. [L. See Rigor., below.]
- mindless a.
- Not indued with mind or intellectual powers; stupid; unthinking.
- rote v. t.
- To learn or repeat by rote.
- 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]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At Castle Boterel is in the public domain. This text is taken from Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries, with Miscellaneous Pieces, Project Gutenberg ebook #2863; 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, At Castle Boterel, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/at-castle-boterel.html, id L24058.
Form and metre
At Castle Boterel is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
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 ABABB highwayA · waggonetteB · bywayA · wetB · yetB
- 2 ABABB benightedA · roadB · alightedA · loadB · slowedB
- 3 ABABB ofA · ledB · ofA · deadB · fledB
- 4 ABABB everA · beforeB · neverA · soreB · moreB
- 5 ABABB borderA · lastB · orderA · castB · passedB
- 6 -A-AA rigour · sightA · figure · nightA · alightA
- 7 ABABB shrinkingA · rainB · sinkingA · domainB · againB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As I drive to the junction of lane and highway, | 12 | ·····/˘···/· |
| And the drizzle bedrenches the waggonette, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| I look behind at the fading byway, | 10 | ······/˘/· |
| And see on its slope, now glistening wet, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Distinctly yet | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| Myself and a girlish form benighted | 10 | ·/··/˘·˘/˘ |
| In dry March weather. We climb the road | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Beside a chaise. We had just alighted | 10 | ·/·····˘/˘ |
| To ease the sturdy pony’s load | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| When he sighed and slowed. | 5 | ····· |
| What we did as we climbed, and what we talked of | 11 | ··········· |
| Matters not much, nor to what it led,— | 9 | /˘······· |
| Something that life will not be balked of | 9 | /˘······· |
| Without rude reason till hope is dead, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And feeling fled. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| It filled but a minute. But was there ever | 10 | ····˘/···/ |
| A time of such quality, since or before, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| In that hill’s story? To one mind never, | 9 | ···/˘···/ |
| Though it has been climbed, foot-swift, foot-sore, | 9 | ········· |
| By thousands more. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Primaeval rocks form the road’s steep border, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And much have they faced there, first and last, | 9 | ········· |
| Of the transitory in Earth’s long order; | 11 | ··/˘·˘···/˘ |
| But what they record in colour and cast | 10 | ···˘/·/˘·· |
| Is—that we two passed. | 5 | ····· |
| And to me, though Time’s unflinching rigour, | 10 | ·····˘/˘/˘ |
| In mindless rote, has ruled from sight | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The substance now, one phantom figure | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Remains on the slope, as when that night | 9 | ˘/······· |
| Saw us alight. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| I look and see it there, shrinking, shrinking, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| I look back at it amid the rain | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| For the very last time; for my sand is sinking, | 12 | ··/˘······/˘ |
| And I shall traverse old love’s domain | 9 | ···˘/··˘/ |
| Never again. | 4 | /˘˘/ |
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