Self-Unconscious
ALONG the wayHe walked that day,Watching shapes that reveries limn,And seldom heHad eyes to seeThe moment that encompassed him.
Bright yellowhammersMade mirthful clamours,And billed long straws with a bustling air,And bearing their loadFlew up the roadThat he followed, alone, without interest there.
From bank to groundAnd over and roundThey sidled along the adjoining hedge;Sometimes to the gutterTheir yellow flutterWould dip from the nearest slatestone ledge.
The smooth sea-lineWith a metal shine,And flashes of white, and a sail thereon,He would also descryWith a half-wrapt eyeBetween the projects he mused upon.
Yes, round him were theseEarth’s artistries,But specious plans that came to his callDid most engageHis pilgrimage,While himself he did not see at all.
Dead now as sherdsAre the yellow birds,And all that mattered has passed away;Yet God, the Elf,Now shows him that selfAs he was, and should have been shown, that day.
O it would have been goodCould he then have stoodAt a focussed distance, and conned the whole,But now such visionIs mere derision,Nor soothes his body nor saves his soul.
Not much, some mayIncline to say,To see therein, had it all been seen.Nay! he is awareA thing was thereThat loomed with an immortal mien.
Words in this poem
- limn v. t.
- To draw or paint; especially, to represent in an artistic way with pencil or brush. [OE. limnen, fr. luminen, for enluminen, F. enluminer to illuminate, to limn, LL. illuminare to paint. Illuminate, Luminous.]
- bustling a.
- Agitated; noisy; tumultuous; characterized by confused activity; as, a bustling crowd.
- thereon adv.
- On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
- descry
- , Discovery or view, as of an army seen at a distance.
- pilgrimage n.
- The journey of a pilgrim; a long journey; especially, a journey to a shrine or other sacred place. Fig., the journey of human life. [OE. pilgrimage, pelgrinage; cf. F. pèlerinage.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Self-Unconscious 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, Self-Unconscious, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/self-unconscious.html, id L24034.
Form and metre
Self-Unconscious is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 AA-BB- wayA · dayA · limn · heB · seeB · him
- 2 AABCCB yellowhammersA · clamoursA · airB · loadC · roadC · thereB
- 3 AABCCB groundA · roundA · hedgeB · gutterC · flutterC · ledgeB
- 4 AA-BB- lineA · shineA · thereon · descryB · eyeB · upon
- 5 AABCCB theseA · artistriesA · callB · engageC · pilgrimageC · allB
- 6 --ABBA sherds · birds · awayA · elfB · selfB · dayA
- 7 AABCCB goodA · stoodA · wholeB · visionC · derisionC · soulB
- 8 AABCCB mayA · sayA · seenB · awareC · thereC · mienB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ALONG the way | 4 | ˘/·· |
| He walked that day, | 4 | ···· |
| Watching shapes that reveries limn, | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| And seldom he | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Had eyes to see | 4 | ···· |
| The moment that encompassed him. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Bright yellowhammers | 5 | ····· |
| Made mirthful clamours, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| And billed long straws with a bustling air, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And bearing their load | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Flew up the road | 4 | ···· |
| That he followed, alone, without interest there. | 11 | ··/˘˘/··/˘· |
| From bank to ground | 4 | ···· |
| And over and round | 5 | ····· |
| They sidled along the adjoining hedge; | 10 | ·/˘˘/·˘/˘· |
| Sometimes to the gutter | 6 | /···/˘ |
| Their yellow flutter | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Would dip from the nearest slatestone ledge. | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| The smooth sea-line | 4 | ···· |
| With a metal shine, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And flashes of white, and a sail thereon, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| He would also descry | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| With a half-wrapt eye | 5 | ····· |
| Between the projects he mused upon. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Yes, round him were these | 5 | ····· |
| Earth’s artistries, | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| But specious plans that came to his call | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Did most engage | 4 | ··˘/ |
| His pilgrimage, | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| While himself he did not see at all. | 9 | ·˘/······ |
| Dead now as sherds | 4 | ···· |
| Are the yellow birds, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And all that mattered has passed away; | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| Yet God, the Elf, | 4 | ···· |
| Now shows him that self | 5 | ····· |
| As he was, and should have been shown, that day. | 10 | ·········· |
| O it would have been good | 6 | ······ |
| Could he then have stood | 5 | ····· |
| At a focussed distance, and conned the whole, | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| But now such vision | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Is mere derision, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Nor soothes his body nor saves his soul. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Not much, some may | 4 | ···· |
| Incline to say, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| To see therein, had it all been seen. | 9 | ········· |
| Nay! he is aware | 5 | ···˘/ |
| A thing was there | 4 | ···· |
| That loomed with an immortal mien. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
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.