In the Days of Crinoline
A PLAIN tilt-bonnet on her headShe took the path across the leaze.—Her spouse the vicar, gardening, said,“Too dowdy that, for coquetries,So I can hoe at ease.”
But when she had passed into the heath,And gained the wood beyond the flat,She raised her skirts, and from beneathUnpinned and drew as from a sheathAn ostrich-feathered hat.
And where the hat had hung she nowConcealed and pinned the dowdy hood,And set the hat upon her brow,And thus emerging from the woodTripped on in jaunty mood.
The sun was low and crimson-facedAs two came that way from the town,And plunged into the wood untraced . . .When separately therefrom they pacedThe sun had quite gone down.
The hat and feather disappeared,The dowdy hood again was donned,And in the gloom the fair one nearedHer home and husband dour, who connedCalmly his blue-eyed blonde.
“To-day,” he said, “you have shown good sense,A dress so modest and so meekShould always deck your goings henceAlone.” And as a recompenseHe kissed her on the cheek.
Words in this poem
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
- gardening n.
- The art of occupation of laying out and cultivating gardens; horticulture.
- dowdy a.
- Showing a vulgar taste in dress; awkward and slovenly in dress; vulgar-looking. [Scot. dawdie slovenly, daw, da sluggard, drab, Prov. E. dowd flat, dead.]
- dour a.
- Hard; inflexible; obstinate; sour in aspect; hardy; bold. [Cf. F. dur, L. durus.]
- blonde a.
- Of a fair color; light-colored; as, blond hair; a blond complexion. [F., fair, light, of uncertain origin; cf. AS. blonden-feax gray-haired, old, prop. blended-haired, as a mixture of white and brown or black. See Blend, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Days of Crinoline 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 Days of Crinoline, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/in-the-days-of-crinoline.html, id L24091.
Form and metre
In the Days of Crinoline is 30 lines in 6 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABA-B headA · leazeB · saidA · coquetries · easeB
- 2 ABAAB heathA · flatB · beneathA · sheathA · hatB
- 3 ABAB- nowA · hoodB · browA · woodB · mood
- 4 ABAAB facedA · townB · untracedA · pacedA · downB
- 5 ABABB disappearedA · donnedB · nearedA · connedB · blondeB
- 6 ABAAB senseA · meekB · henceA · recompenseA · cheekB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A PLAIN tilt-bonnet on her head | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She took the path across the leaze. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| —Her spouse the vicar, gardening, said, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| “Too dowdy that, for coquetries, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| So I can hoe at ease.” | 6 | ······ |
| But when she had passed into the heath, | 9 | ········· |
| And gained the wood beyond the flat, | 8 | ········ |
| She raised her skirts, and from beneath | 8 | ········ |
| Unpinned and drew as from a sheath | 8 | ········ |
| An ostrich-feathered hat. | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘· |
| And where the hat had hung she now | 8 | ········ |
| Concealed and pinned the dowdy hood, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And set the hat upon her brow, | 8 | ········ |
| And thus emerging from the wood | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Tripped on in jaunty mood. | 7 | ·˘··/˘· |
| The sun was low and crimson-faced | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As two came that way from the town, | 8 | ········ |
| And plunged into the wood untraced . . . | 8 | ········ |
| When separately therefrom they paced | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| The sun had quite gone down. | 6 | ······ |
| The hat and feather disappeared, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The dowdy hood again was donned, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| And in the gloom the fair one neared | 8 | ········ |
| Her home and husband dour, who conned | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Calmly his blue-eyed blonde. | 6 | /˘···· |
| “To-day,” he said, “you have shown good sense, | 9 | ········· |
| A dress so modest and so meek | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Should always deck your goings hence | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Alone.” And as a recompense | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| He kissed her on the cheek. | 7 | ··˘···· |
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