In the British Museum
“WHAT do you see in that time-touched stone,When nothing is thereBut ashen blankness, although you give itA rigid stare?
“You look not quite as if you saw,But as if you heard,Parting your lips, and treading softlyAs mouse or bird.
“It is only the base of a pillar, they’ll tell you,That came to usFrom a far old hill men used to nameAreopagus.”
—“I know no art, and I only viewA stone from a wall,But I am thinking that stone has echoedThe voice of Paul,
“Paul as he stood and preached beside itFacing the crowd,A small gaunt figure with wasted features,Calling out loud
“Words that in all their intimate accentsPattered uponThat marble front, and were far reflected,And then were gone.
“I’m a labouring man, and know but little,Or nothing at all;But I can’t help thinking that stone once echoedThe voice of Paul.”
Words in this poem
- ashen a.
- Of or pertaining to the ash tree. [See Ash, the tree.]
- blankness n.
- The state of being blank.
- areopagus n.
- The highest judicial court at Athens. Its sessions were held on Mars' Hill. Hence, any high court or tribunal
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the British Museum 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, In the British Museum, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/in-the-british-museum.html, id L24078.
Form and metre
In the British Museum is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 -A-A stone · thereA · it · stareA
- 2 -A-A saw · heardA · softly · birdA
- 4 -A-A view · wallA · echoed · paulA
- 5 -A-A it · crowdA · features · loudA
- 7 AA-A littleA · allA · echoed · paulA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “WHAT do you see in that time-touched stone, | 9 | ········· |
| When nothing is there | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| But ashen blankness, although you give it | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| A rigid stare? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| “You look not quite as if you saw, | 8 | ········ |
| But as if you heard, | 5 | ····· |
| Parting your lips, and treading softly | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| As mouse or bird. | 4 | ···· |
| “It is only the base of a pillar, they’ll tell you, | 13 | ··/˘····/˘··· |
| That came to us | 4 | ···· |
| From a far old hill men used to name | 9 | ········· |
| Areopagus.” | 4 | ···· |
| —“I know no art, and I only view | 9 | ······/˘· |
| A stone from a wall, | 5 | ····· |
| But I am thinking that stone has echoed | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| The voice of Paul, | 4 | ···· |
| “Paul as he stood and preached beside it | 9 | ······˘/· |
| Facing the crowd, | 4 | /˘·· |
| A small gaunt figure with wasted features, | 10 | ···/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Calling out loud | 4 | /˘·· |
| “Words that in all their intimate accents | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Pattered upon | 4 | /˘·· |
| That marble front, and were far reflected, | 10 | ·/˘····˘/˘ |
| And then were gone. | 4 | ···· |
| “I’m a labouring man, and know but little, | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| Or nothing at all; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| But I can’t help thinking that stone once echoed | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| The voice of Paul.” | 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.