The Recalcitrants
LET us off and search, and find a placeWhere yours and mine can be natural lives,Where no one comes who dissects and divesAnd proclaims that ours is a curious case,That its touch of romance can scarcely grace.
You would think it strange at first, but thenEverything has been strange in its time.When some one said on a day of the primeHe would bow to no brazen god againHe doubtless dazed the mass of men.
None will recognize us as a pair whose claimsTo righteous judgment we care not making;Who have doubted if breath be worth the taking,And have no respect for the current famesWhence the savour has flown while abide the names.
We have found us already shunned, disdained,And for re-acceptance have not once striven;Whatever offence our course has givenThe brunt thereof we have long sustained.Well, let us away, scorned unexplained.
Words in this poem
- dives n.
- The name popularly given to the rich man in our Lord's parable of the [L., rich.]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- doubtless a.
- Free from fear or suspicion.
- savour v. t.
- To perceive by the smell or the taste; hence, to perceive; to note. B. Jonson.
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
- brunt n.
- The heat, or utmost violence, of an onset; the strength or greatest fury of any contention; as, the brunt of a battle. [OE. brunt, bront, fr. Icel. bruna to rush; cf. Icel. brenna to burn. Cf. Burn, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Recalcitrants 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 Recalcitrants, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/the-recalcitrants.html, id L24082.
Form and metre
The Recalcitrants is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBAA. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBAA placeA · livesB · divesB · caseA · graceA
- 2 ABBAA thenA · timeB · primeB · againA · menA
- 3 ABBAA claimsA · makingB · takingB · famesA · namesA
- 4 ABBAA disdainedA · strivenB · givenB · sustainedA · unexplainedA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| LET us off and search, and find a place | 9 | ········· |
| Where yours and mine can be natural lives, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Where no one comes who dissects and dives | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| And proclaims that ours is a curious case, | 10 | ·˘/·/··/˘· |
| That its touch of romance can scarcely grace. | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| You would think it strange at first, but then | 9 | ········· |
| Everything has been strange in its time. | 9 | /˘······· |
| When some one said on a day of the prime | 10 | ·········· |
| He would bow to no brazen god again | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| He doubtless dazed the mass of men. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| None will recognize us as a pair whose claims | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| To righteous judgment we care not making; | 10 | ·/˘/˘···/˘ |
| Who have doubted if breath be worth the taking, | 11 | ··/˘·····/˘ |
| And have no respect for the current fames | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| Whence the savour has flown while abide the names. | 11 | ··/˘···˘/·· |
| We have found us already shunned, disdained, | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| And for re-acceptance have not once striven; | 11 | ···˘/˘···/˘ |
| Whatever offence our course has given | 9 | ·/˘˘//··/ |
| The brunt thereof we have long sustained. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Well, let us away, scorned unexplained. | 9 | ···˘/··˘/ |
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.