The Haunter
HE does not think that I haunt here nightly:How shall I let him knowThat whither his fancy sets him wanderingI, too, alertly go?—Hover and hover a few feet from himJust as I used to do,But cannot answer his words addressed me—Only listen thereto!
When I could answer he did not say them:When I could let him knowHow I would like to join in his journeysSeldom he wished to go.Now that he goes and wants me with himMore than he used to do,Never he sees my faithful phantomThough he speaks thereto.
Yes, I accompany him to placesOnly dreamers know,Where the shy hares limp long paces,Where the night rooks go;Into old aisles where the past is all to him,Close as his shade can do,Always lacking the power to call to him,Near as I reach thereto!
What a good haunter I am, O tell him,Quickly make him knowIf he but sigh since my loss befell himStraight to his side I go.Tell him a faithful one is doingAll that love can doStill that his path may be worth pursuing,And to bring peace thereto.
Words in this poem
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- alertly adv.
- In an alert manner; nimbly.
- hover n.
- A cover; a shelter; a protection. Carew. C. Kingsley. [Etymol. doubtful.]
- haunter n.
- One who, or that which, haunts.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Haunter 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 Haunter, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/the-haunter.html, id L24051.
Form and metre
The Haunter is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
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 -A-A---- nightly · knowA · wandering · goA · him · do · me · thereto
- 2 -A-AB-B- them · knowA · journeys · goA · himB · do · phantomB · thereto
- 3 ABABC-C- placesA · knowB · pacesA · goB · himC · do · himC · thereto
- 4 ABABC-C- himA · knowB · himA · goB · doingC · do · pursuingC · thereto
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 |
|---|---|---|
| HE does not think that I haunt here nightly: | 10 | ········/˘ |
| How shall I let him know | 6 | ······ |
| That whither his fancy sets him wandering | 10 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| I, too, alertly go?— | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Hover and hover a few feet from him | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Just as I used to do, | 6 | ······ |
| But cannot answer his words addressed me— | 10 | ·/˘/˘··˘/· |
| Only listen thereto! | 6 | /˘/˘˘/ |
| When I could answer he did not say them: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| When I could let him know | 6 | ······ |
| How I would like to join in his journeys | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Seldom he wished to go. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Now that he goes and wants me with him | 9 | ········· |
| More than he used to do, | 6 | ······ |
| Never he sees my faithful phantom | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| Though he speaks thereto. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Yes, I accompany him to places | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Only dreamers know, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Where the shy hares limp long paces, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Where the night rooks go; | 5 | ····· |
| Into old aisles where the past is all to him, | 11 | ··········· |
| Close as his shade can do, | 6 | ······ |
| Always lacking the power to call to him, | 10 | /˘/˘·/···· |
| Near as I reach thereto! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| What a good haunter I am, O tell him, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Quickly make him know | 5 | /˘··· |
| If he but sigh since my loss befell him | 10 | ·······˘/· |
| Straight to his side I go. | 6 | ······ |
| Tell him a faithful one is doing | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| All that love can do | 5 | ····· |
| Still that his path may be worth pursuing, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| And to bring peace thereto. | 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.