Laurel · Thomas Hardy · Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries

“I Found Her Out There”

Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) · 1914

iambic trimeter · 40 lines · from Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries

I FOUND her out thereOn a slope few see,That falls westwardlyTo the salt-edged air,Where the ocean breaksOn the purple strand,And the hurricane shakesThe solid land.

I brought her here,And have laid her to restIn a noiseless nestNo sea beats near.She will never be stirredIn her loamy cellBy the waves long heardAnd loved so well.

So she does not sleepBy those haunted heightsThe Atlantic smitesAnd the blind gales sweep,Whence she often would gazeAt Dundagel’s far head,While the dipping blazeDyed her face fire-red;

And would sigh at the taleOf sunk Lyonnesse,As a wind-tugged tressFlapped her cheek like a flail;Or listen at whilesWith a thought-bound browTo the murmuring milesShe is far from now.

Yet her shade, maybe,Will creep undergroundTill it catch the soundOf that western seaAs it swells and sobsWhere she once domiciled,And joy in its throbsWith the heart of a child.

Words in this poem

westwardly adv.: In a westward direction.
loamy a.: Consisting of loam; partaking of the nature of loam; resembling loam.
haunted a.: Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
tress n.: A braid, knot, or curl, of hair; a ringlet. [OE. tresse, OF. trece, F. tresse, LL. tricia, fr. Gr. tri`cha threefold, because a tress is usually formed by interlacing three pieces; akin to trei^s three. Se]
whiles conj.: During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
maybe adv.: Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

“I Found Her Out There” 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, “I Found Her Out There”, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/i-found-her-out-there.html, id L24048.

Form and metre

“I Found Her Out There” is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABBACDCD, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).

See other poems in iambic trimeter.

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--ABCBC there^A · see · westwardly · air^A · breaks^B · strand^C · shakes^B · land^C
2 ABBACDCD here^A · rest^B · nest^B · near^A · stirred^C · cell^D · heard^C · well^D
3 A--ABCBC sleep^A · heights · smites · sweep^A · gaze^B · head^C · blaze^B · red^C
4 ABBACDCD tale^A · lyonnesse^B · tress^B · flail^A · whiles^C · brow^D · miles^C · now^D
5 -AA-BCBC maybe · underground^A · sound^A · sea · sobs^B · domiciled^C · throbs^B · child^C

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 trimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
I FOUND her out there	5	·····
On a slope few see,	5	·····
That falls westwardly	5	··/˘˘
To the salt-edged air,	5	·····
Where the ocean breaks	5	··/˘·
On the purple strand,	5	··/˘·
And the hurricane shakes	6	··/˘··
The solid land.	4	·/˘·
I brought her here,	4	····
And have laid her to rest	6	······
In a noiseless nest	5	··/˘·
No sea beats near.	4	····
She will never be stirred	5	··/··
In her loamy cell	5	··/˘·
By the waves long heard	5	·····
And loved so well.	5	··˘··
So she does not sleep	5	·····
By those haunted heights	5	··/˘·
The Atlantic smites	5	·˘/˘·
And the blind gales sweep,	5	·····
Whence she often would gaze	6	··/˘··
At Dundagel’s far head,	6	······
While the dipping blaze	5	··/˘·
Dyed her face fire-red;	5	···/·
And would sigh at the tale	6	······
Of sunk Lyonnesse,	4	····
As a wind-tugged tress	5	·····
Flapped her cheek like a flail;	6	······
Or listen at whiles	5	·/˘··
With a thought-bound brow	5	·····
To the murmuring miles	5	··/˘·
She is far from now.	5	·····
Yet her shade, maybe,	5	···/˘
Will creep underground	5	··/˘·
Till it catch the sound	5	·····
Of that western sea	5	··/˘·
As it swells and sobs	5	·····
Where she once domiciled,	6	······
And joy in its throbs	5	·····
With the heart of a child.	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.

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