The Elopement
“A WOMAN never agreed to it!” said my knowing friend to me.“That one thing she’d refuse to do for Solomon’s mines in fee:No woman ever will make herself look older than she is.”I did not answer; but I thought, “you err there, ancient Quiz.”
It took a rare one, true, to do it; for she was surely rare—As rare a soul at that sweet time of her life as she was fair.And urging motives, too, were strong, for ours was a passionate case,Yea, passionate enough to lead to freaking with that young face.
I have told no one about it, should perhaps make few believe,But I think it over now that life looms dull and years bereave,How blank we stood at our bright wits’ end, two frail barks indistress,How self-regard in her was slain by her large tenderness.
I said: “The only chance for us in a crisis of this kindIs going it thorough!”—“Yes,” she calmly breathed. “Well, I don’tmind.”And we blanched her dark locks ruthlessly: set wrinkles on her brow;Ay—she was a right rare woman then, whatever she may be now.
That night we heard a coach drive up, and questions asked below.“A gent with an elderly wife, sir,” was returned from the bureau.And the wheels went rattling on, and free at last from public kenWe washed all off in her chamber and restored her youth again.
How many years ago it was! Some fifty can it beSince that adventure held us, and she played old wife to me?But in time convention won her, as it wins all women at last,And now she is rich and respectable, and time has buried the past.
Words in this poem
- freaking a.
- Freakish. Pepys.
- crisis n.
- The point of time when it is to be decided whether any affair or course of action must go on, or be modified or terminate; the decisive moment; the turning point. [L. crisis, Gr. Certain.]
- gent a.
- Gentle; noble; of gentle birth. [OF. gent, fr. L. genitus born, or (less prob.) fr. gentilis. See Genteel.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Elopement 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 Elopement, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/the-elopement.html, id L24073.
Form and metre
The Elopement is 26 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AABB meA · feeA · isB · quizB
- 2 AABB rareA · fairA · caseB · faceB
- 3 AA-BB believeA · bereaveA · in · distressB · tendernessB
- 4 A-ABB kindA · don't · mindA · browB · nowB
- 5 --AA below · bureau · kenA · againA
- 6 AABB beA · meA · lastB · pastB
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| “A WOMAN never agreed to it!” said my knowing friend to me. | 15 | ·/˘/˘/····/˘··· |
| “That one thing she’d refuse to do for Solomon’s mines in fee: | 15 | ····˘/···/˘˘··· |
| No woman ever will make herself look older than she is.” | 15 | ·/˘/˘··˘/·/˘··· |
| I did not answer; but I thought, “you err there, ancient Quiz.” | 14 | ···/˘······/˘· |
| It took a rare one, true, to do it; for she was surely rare— | 15 | ············/˘· |
| As rare a soul at that sweet time of her life as she was fair. | 15 | ··············· |
| And urging motives, too, were strong, for ours was a passionate case, | 15 | ·/˘/˘····/··/˘· |
| Yea, passionate enough to lead to freaking with that young face. | 15 | ·/˘˘˘/···/˘···· |
| I have told no one about it, should perhaps make few believe, | 15 | ·········˘/··˘/ |
| But I think it over now that life looms dull and years bereave, | 15 | ·············˘/ |
| How blank we stood at our bright wits’ end, two frail barks in | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| distress, | 2 | ˘/ |
| How self-regard in her was slain by her large tenderness. | 14 | ··˘/·······/˘˘ |
| I said: “The only chance for us in a crisis of this kind | 15 | ···/˘·····/˘··· |
| Is going it thorough!”—“Yes,” she calmly breathed. “Well, I don’t | 15 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘·˘··· |
| mind.” | 1 | · |
| And we blanched her dark locks ruthlessly: set wrinkles on her brow; | 15 | ······/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Ay—she was a right rare woman then, whatever she may be now. | 16 | ······/˘··/˘···· |
| That night we heard a coach drive up, and questions asked below. | 15 | ·········/˘·˘·· |
| “A gent with an elderly wife, sir,” was returned from the bureau. | 16 | ····/˘˘···˘/··/˘ |
| And the wheels went rattling on, and free at last from public ken | 15 | ····/˘······/˘· |
| We washed all off in her chamber and restored her youth again. | 15 | ······/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| How many years ago it was! Some fifty can it be | 14 | ·/˘·˘/···/˘··· |
| Since that adventure held us, and she played old wife to me? | 15 | ··˘/˘·····˘···· |
| But in time convention won her, as it wins all women at last, | 16 | ···˘/˘······/˘·· |
| And now she is rich and respectable, and time has buried the past. | 16 | ······˘/˘···/˘·· |
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