The Phantom Horsewoman
QUEER are the ways of a man I know:He comes and standsIn a careworn craze,And looks at the sandsAnd the seaward haze,With moveless handsAnd face and gaze,Then turns to go . . .And what does he see when he gazes so?
They say he sees as an instant thingMore clear than to-day,A sweet soft sceneThat once was in playBy that briny green;Yes, notes alwayWarm, real, and keen,What his back years bring—A phantom of his own figuring.
Of this vision of his they might say more:Not only thereDoes he see this sight,But everywhereIn his brain—day, night,As if on the airIt were drawn rose bright—Yea, far from that shoreDoes he carry this vision of heretofore:
A ghost-girl-rider. And though, toil-tried,He withers daily,Time touches her not,But she still rides gailyIn his rapt thoughtOn that shagged and shalyAtlantic spot,And as when first eyedDraws rein and sings to the swing of the tide.
Words in this poem
- careworn a.
- Worn or burdened with care; as, careworn look or face.
- seaward a.
- Directed or situated toward the sea. Donne.
- moveless a.
- Motionless; fixed.
- briny a.
- Of or pertaining to brine, or to the sea; partaking of the nature of brine; salt; as, a briny taste; the briny flood. [From Brine.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- withers n.
- The ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse, at the base of the neck. See Illust. of Horse. [Properly, the parts which resist the pull or strain in drawing a load; fr. OE. wither resistance, AS. withre, fr. wither against; akin to G. widerrist withers. ]
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
- rapt n.
- An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]
- shaly a.
- Resembling shale in structure.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Phantom Horsewoman 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 Phantom Horsewoman, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/the-phantom-horsewoman.html, id L24060.
Form and metre
The Phantom Horsewoman is 36 lines in 4 stanzas of 9 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABCBCBCAA, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
See other poems in iambic 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 ABCBCBCAA knowA · standsB · crazeC · sandsB · hazeC · handsB · gazeC · goA · soA
- 2 ABCBC-CAA thingA · dayB · sceneC · playB · greenC · alway · keenC · bringA · figuringA
- 3 ABCBCBCAA moreA · thereB · sightC · everywhereB · nightC · airB · brightC · shoreA · heretoforeA
- 4 ABCB--CAA triedA · dailyB · notC · gailyB · thought · shaly · spotC · eyedA · tideA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| QUEER are the ways of a man I know: | 9 | ········· |
| He comes and stands | 4 | ···· |
| In a careworn craze, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And looks at the sands | 5 | ····· |
| And the seaward haze, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| With moveless hands | 5 | ····· |
| And face and gaze, | 4 | ···· |
| Then turns to go . . . | 4 | ···· |
| And what does he see when he gazes so? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They say he sees as an instant thing | 9 | ······/˘· |
| More clear than to-day, | 5 | ····· |
| A sweet soft scene | 4 | ···· |
| That once was in play | 5 | ····· |
| By that briny green; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Yes, notes alway | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Warm, real, and keen, | 4 | ···· |
| What his back years bring— | 5 | ····· |
| A phantom of his own figuring. | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Of this vision of his they might say more: | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Not only there | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Does he see this sight, | 5 | ····· |
| But everywhere | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In his brain—day, night, | 5 | ····· |
| As if on the air | 5 | ····· |
| It were drawn rose bright— | 5 | ····· |
| Yea, far from that shore | 5 | ····· |
| Does he carry this vision of heretofore: | 11 | ··/˘·/˘··˘/ |
| A ghost-girl-rider. And though, toil-tried, | 8 | ···/···· |
| He withers daily, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Time touches her not, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| But she still rides gaily | 6 | ····/˘ |
| In his rapt thought | 4 | ···· |
| On that shagged and shaly | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Atlantic spot, | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| And as when first eyed | 5 | ····· |
| Draws rein and sings to the swing of the tide. | 10 | ·········· |
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.