The Difference II
Did my Heartmate but haunt here at times such as now,The song would be joyous and cheerful the moon;But she will see never this gate, path, or bough,Nor I find a joy in the scene or the tune.
(Student’s Love-song)
ONCE more the cauldron of the sunSmears the bookcase with winy red,And here my page is, and there my bed,And the apple-tree shadows travel along.Soon their intangible track will be run,And dusk grow strongAnd they be fled.
Yes: now the boiling ball is gone,And I have wasted another day . . .But wasted—wasted, do I say?Is it a waste to have imaged oneBeyond the hills there, who, anon,My great deeds doneWill be mine alway?
Words in this poem
- bookcase n.
- A case with shelves for holding books, esp. one with glazed doors.
- winy a.
- Having the taste or qualities of wine; vinous; as, grapes of a winy taste. Dampier.
- intangible a.
- Not tangible; incapable of being touched; not perceptible to the touch; impalpable; imperceptible. Bp. Wilkins. [Pref. in- not + tangible: cf. F. intangible.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Difference II 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, The Difference II, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/the-difference-ii.html, id L24005.
Form and metre
The Difference II is 19 lines in 4 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 ABAB nowA · moonB · boughA · tuneB
- 3 ABBCACB sunA · redB · bedB · alongC · runA · strongC · fledB
- 4 -AAB-B- gone · dayA · sayA · oneB · anon · doneB · alway
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Did my Heartmate but haunt here at times such as now, | 12 | ············ |
| The song would be joyous and cheerful the moon; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| But she will see never this gate, path, or bough, | 10 | ····/····· |
| Nor I find a joy in the scene or the tune. | 11 | ··········· |
| (Student’s Love-song) | 4 | /˘·· |
| ONCE more the cauldron of the sun | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Smears the bookcase with winy red, | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| And here my page is, and there my bed, | 9 | ········· |
| And the apple-tree shadows travel along. | 11 | ··/˘·/·/˘˘/ |
| Soon their intangible track will be run, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| And dusk grow strong | 4 | ···· |
| And they be fled. | 4 | ···· |
| Yes: now the boiling ball is gone, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And I have wasted another day . . . | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| But wasted—wasted, do I say? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Is it a waste to have imaged one | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Beyond the hills there, who, anon, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| My great deeds done | 4 | ···· |
| Will be mine alway? | 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.