“Regret Not Me”
REGRET not me;Beneath the sunny treeI lie uncaring, slumbering peacefully.
Swift as the lightI flew my faery flight;Ecstatically I moved, and feared no night.
I did not knowThat heydays fade and go,But deemed that what was would be always so.
I skipped at mornBetween the yellowing corn,Thinking it good and glorious to be born.
I ran at evesAmong the piled-up sheaves,Dreaming, “I grieve not, therefore nothing grieves.”
Now soon will comeThe apple, pear, and plumAnd hinds will sing, and autumn insects hum.
Again you will fareTo cider-makings rare,And junketings; but I shall not be there.
Yet gaily singUntil the pewter ringThose songs we sang when we went gipsying.
And lightly danceSome triple-timed romanceIn coupled figures, and forget mischance;
And mourn not meBeneath the yellowing tree;For I shall mind not, slumbering peacefully.
Words in this poem
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- ecstatically adv.
- Rapturously; ravishingly.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- yellowing n.
- The act or process of making yellow.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- 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,]
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
- pewter n.
- A hard, tough, but easily fusible, alloy, originally consisting of tin with a little lead, but afterwards modified by the addition of copper, antimony, or bismuth. [OE. pewtyr, OF. peutre, peautre, piautre: cf. D. peauter, piauter, It. peltro, Sp. & Pg. peltre, LL. peutreum, pestrum. Cf. Spelter.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
“Regret Not Me” 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, “Regret Not Me”, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/regret-not-me.html, id L24081.
Form and metre
“Regret Not Me” is 30 lines in 10 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AA- meA · treeA · peacefully
- 2 AAA lightA · flightA · nightA
- 3 AAA knowA · goA · soA
- 4 AAA mornA · cornA · bornA
- 5 AAA evesA · sheavesA · grievesA
- 6 AAA comeA · plumA · humA
- 7 AAA fareA · rareA · thereA
- 8 AAA singA · ringA · gipsyingA
- 9 AAA danceA · romanceA · mischanceA
- 10 AA- meA · treeA · peacefully
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 |
|---|---|---|
| REGRET not me; | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Beneath the sunny tree | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I lie uncaring, slumbering peacefully. | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Swift as the light | 4 | ···· |
| I flew my faery flight; | 6 | ······ |
| Ecstatically I moved, and feared no night. | 9 | ˘/˘······ |
| I did not know | 4 | ···· |
| That heydays fade and go, | 6 | ·/···· |
| But deemed that what was would be always so. | 10 | ·······/·· |
| I skipped at morn | 4 | ···· |
| Between the yellowing corn, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Thinking it good and glorious to be born. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| I ran at eves | 4 | ···· |
| Among the piled-up sheaves, | 6 | ······ |
| Dreaming, “I grieve not, therefore nothing grieves.” | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Now soon will come | 4 | ···· |
| The apple, pear, and plum | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And hinds will sing, and autumn insects hum. | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| Again you will fare | 5 | ˘/··· |
| To cider-makings rare, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And junketings; but I shall not be there. | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet gaily sing | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Until the pewter ring | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Those songs we sang when we went gipsying. | 9 | ········· |
| And lightly dance | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Some triple-timed romance | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| In coupled figures, and forget mischance; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘/ |
| And mourn not me | 4 | ···· |
| Beneath the yellowing tree; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| For I shall mind not, slumbering peacefully. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
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.