St. Launce’s Revisited
SLIP back, Time!Yet again I am nearingCastle and keep, uprearingGray, as in my prime.
At the innSmiling close, why is itNot as on my visitWhen hope and I were twin?
Groom and jadeWhom I found here, moulder;Strange the tavern-holder,Strange the tap-maid.
Here I hiredHorse and man for bearingMe on my wayfaringTo the door desired.
Evening gloomedAs I journeyed forwardTo the faces shoreward,Till their dwelling loomed.
If againTowards the Atlantic sea thereI should speed, they’d be thereSurely now as then? . . .
Why waste thought,When I know them vanishedUnder earth; yea, banishedEver into nought.
Words in this poem
- moulder n.
- One who, or that which, molds or forms into shape; specifically (Founding), one skilled in the art of making molds for castings.
- wayfaring a.
- Traveling; passing; being on a journey.
- shoreward adv.
- Toward the shore.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
St. Launce’s Revisited 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, St. Launce’s Revisited, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/st-launce-s-revisited.html, id L24043.
Form and metre
St. Launce’s Revisited is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABBA timeA · nearingB · uprearingB · primeA
- 2 ABBA innA · itB · visitB · twinA
- 3 ABBA jadeA · moulderB · holderB · maidA
- 4 ABBA hiredA · bearingB · wayfaringB · desiredA
- 5 ABBA gloomedA · forwardB · shorewardB · loomedA
- 6 ABBA againA · thereB · thereB · thenA
- 7 ABBA thoughtA · vanishedB · banishedB · noughtA
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| SLIP back, Time! | 3 | ··· |
| Yet again I am nearing | 7 | ·˘/··/˘ |
| Castle and keep, uprearing | 7 | /˘····· |
| Gray, as in my prime. | 5 | ····· |
| At the inn | 3 | ··· |
| Smiling close, why is it | 6 | /˘···· |
| Not as on my visit | 6 | ····/˘ |
| When hope and I were twin? | 6 | ······ |
| Groom and jade | 3 | ··· |
| Whom I found here, moulder; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Strange the tavern-holder, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Strange the tap-maid. | 4 | ···· |
| Here I hired | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Horse and man for bearing | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Me on my wayfaring | 5 | ···/˘ |
| To the door desired. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Evening gloomed | 3 | /˘· |
| As I journeyed forward | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| To the faces shoreward, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Till their dwelling loomed. | 6 | ··/˘·˘ |
| If again | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Towards the Atlantic sea there | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| I should speed, they’d be there | 6 | ······ |
| Surely now as then? . . . | 5 | /˘··· |
| Why waste thought, | 3 | ··· |
| When I know them vanished | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Under earth; yea, banished | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Ever into nought. | 5 | /˘··· |
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.