The Going
WHY did you give no hint that nightThat quickly after the morrow’s dawn,And calmly, as if indifferent quite,You would close your term here, up and be goneWhere I could not followWith wing of swallowTo gain one glimpse of you ever anon!
Never to bid good-bye,Or give me the softest call,Or utter a wish for a word, while ISaw morning harden upon the wall,Unmoved, unknowingThat your great goingHad place that moment, and altered all.
Why do you make me leave the houseAnd think for a breath it is you I seeAt the end of the alley of bending boughsWhere so often at dusk you used to be;Till in darkening danknessThe yawning blanknessOf the perspective sickens me!
You were she who abodeBy those red-veined rocks far West,You were the swan-necked one who rodeAlong the beetling Beeny Crest,And, reining nigh me,Would muse and eye me,While Life unrolled us its very best.
Why, then, latterly did we not speak,Did we not think of those days long dead,And ere your vanishing strive to seekThat time’s renewal? We might have said,“In this bright spring weatherWe’ll visit togetherThose places that once we visited.”
Well, well! All’s past amend,Unchangeable. It must go.I seem but a dead man held on endTo sink down soon . . . O you could not knowThat such swift fleeingNo soul foreseeing—Not even I—would undo me so!
Words in this poem
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- unmoved a.
- Not moved; fixed; firm; unshaken; calm; apathetic.
- blankness n.
- The state of being blank.
- perspective a.
- Of or pertaining to the science of vision; optical. [L. perspicere, perspectum, to look through; per + spicere, specere, to look: cf. F. perspectif; or from E. perspective, n. See Spy, n.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- latterly adv.
- Lately; of late; recently; at a later, as distinguished from a former, period.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Going 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 Going, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/the-going.html, id L24044.
Form and metre
The Going is 42 lines in 6 stanzas of 7 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
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 ABABCC- nightA · dawnB · quiteA · goneB · followC · swallowC · anon
- 2 ABABCCB byeA · callB · iA · wallB · unknowingC · goingC · allB
- 3 -A-ABBA house · seeA · boughs · beA · danknessB · blanknessB · meA
- 4 ABABCCB abodeA · westB · rodeA · crestB · meC · meC · bestB
- 5 ABABCCB speakA · deadB · seekA · saidB · weatherC · togetherC · visitedB
- 6 ABABCCB amendA · goB · endA · knowB · fleeingC · foreseeingC · soB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WHY did you give no hint that night | 8 | ········ |
| That quickly after the morrow’s dawn, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| And calmly, as if indifferent quite, | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
| You would close your term here, up and be gone | 10 | ·········· |
| Where I could not follow | 6 | ····/˘ |
| With wing of swallow | 5 | ···/˘ |
| To gain one glimpse of you ever anon! | 9 | ······/˘/ |
| Never to bid good-bye, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Or give me the softest call, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Or utter a wish for a word, while I | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Saw morning harden upon the wall, | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Unmoved, unknowing | 5 | ˘/˘/˘ |
| That your great going | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Had place that moment, and altered all. | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Why do you make me leave the house | 8 | ········ |
| And think for a breath it is you I see | 10 | ·········· |
| At the end of the alley of bending boughs | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘· |
| Where so often at dusk you used to be; | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Till in darkening dankness | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| The yawning blankness | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Of the perspective sickens me! | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| You were she who abode | 6 | ····˘/ |
| By those red-veined rocks far West, | 8 | ····˘··· |
| You were the swan-necked one who rode | 8 | ········ |
| Along the beetling Beeny Crest, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And, reining nigh me, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Would muse and eye me, | 5 | ····· |
| While Life unrolled us its very best. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Why, then, latterly did we not speak, | 9 | ··/˘˘···· |
| Did we not think of those days long dead, | 9 | ········· |
| And ere your vanishing strive to seek | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That time’s renewal? We might have said, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| “In this bright spring weather | 6 | ····/˘ |
| We’ll visit together | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| Those places that once we visited.” | 9 | ·/˘···/˘˘ |
| Well, well! All’s past amend, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Unchangeable. It must go. | 7 | ······· |
| I seem but a dead man held on end | 9 | ········· |
| To sink down soon . . . O you could not know | 9 | ········· |
| That such swift fleeing | 5 | ···/˘ |
| No soul foreseeing— | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Not even I—would undo me so! | 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.