The Ghost of the Past
WE two kept house, the Past and I,The Past and I;I tended while it hovered nigh,Leaving me never alone.It was a spectral housekeepingWhere fell no jarring tone,As strange, as still a housekeepingAs ever has been known.
As daily I went up the stairAnd down the stair,I did not mind the Bygone there—The Present once to me;Its moving meek companionshipI wished might ever be,There was in that companionshipSomething of ecstasy.
It dwelt with me just as it was,Just as it wasWhen first its prospects gave me pauseIn wayward wanderings,Before the years had torn old trothsAs they tear all sweet things,Before gaunt griefs had torn old trothsAnd dulled old rapturings.
And then its form began to fade,Began to fade,Its gentle echoes faintlier playedAt eves upon my earThan when the autumn’s look embrownedThe lonely chambers here,The autumn’s settling shades embrownedNooks that it haunted near.
And so with time my vision less,Yea, less and lessMakes of that Past my housemistress,It dwindles in my eye;It looms a far-off skeletonAnd not a comrade nigh,A fitful far-off skeletonDimming as days draw by.
Words in this poem
- housekeeping n.
- The state of being occupying a dwelling house as a householder.
- jarring a.
- Shaking; disturbing; discordant. [See Jar.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- bygone n.
- Something gone by or past; a past event.
- wayward a.
- Taking one's own way; disobedient; froward; perverse; willful. [OE. weiward, for aweiward, i. e., turned away. See Away, and -ward.]
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- settling n.
- The act of one who, or that which, settles; the act of establishing one's self, of colonizing, subsiding, adjusting, etc.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- fitful a.
- Full of fits; irregularly variable; impulsive and unstable. [From 7th Fit.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Ghost of the Past 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 Ghost of the Past, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/the-ghost-of-the-past.html, id L24001.
Form and metre
The Ghost of the Past is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AAABCBCB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 AAABCBCB iA · iA · nighA · aloneB · housekeepingC · toneB · housekeepingC · knownB
- 2 AAABCBC- stairA · stairA · thereA · meB · companionshipC · beB · companionshipC · ecstasy
- 3 AAABCBCB wasA · wasA · pauseA · wanderingsB · trothsC · thingsB · trothsC · rapturingsB
- 4 AAABCBCB fadeA · fadeA · playedA · earB · embrownedC · hereB · embrownedC · nearB
- 5 AAABCBCB lessA · lessA · housemistressA · eyeB · skeletonC · nighB · skeletonC · byB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WE two kept house, the Past and I, | 8 | ········ |
| The Past and I; | 4 | ···· |
| I tended while it hovered nigh, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Leaving me never alone. | 7 | /˘·/˘˘/ |
| It was a spectral housekeeping | 8 | ···/˘/·˘ |
| Where fell no jarring tone, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As strange, as still a housekeeping | 8 | ·····/·˘ |
| As ever has been known. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As daily I went up the stair | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And down the stair, | 4 | ···· |
| I did not mind the Bygone there— | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The Present once to me; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Its moving meek companionship | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| I wished might ever be, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| There was in that companionship | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Something of ecstasy. | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| It dwelt with me just as it was, | 8 | ········ |
| Just as it was | 4 | ···· |
| When first its prospects gave me pause | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In wayward wanderings, | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Before the years had torn old troths | 8 | ········ |
| As they tear all sweet things, | 6 | ······ |
| Before gaunt griefs had torn old troths | 8 | ········ |
| And dulled old rapturings. | 6 | ······ |
| And then its form began to fade, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Began to fade, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Its gentle echoes faintlier played | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| At eves upon my ear | 6 | ······ |
| Than when the autumn’s look embrowned | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The lonely chambers here, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The autumn’s settling shades embrowned | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Nooks that it haunted near. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And so with time my vision less, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yea, less and less | 4 | ···· |
| Makes of that Past my housemistress, | 9 | ········· |
| It dwindles in my eye; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| It looms a far-off skeleton | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And not a comrade nigh, | 6 | ···/·· |
| A fitful far-off skeleton | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Dimming as days draw by. | 6 | /˘···· |
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.