The Spell of the Rose
“I MEAN to build a hall anon,And shape two turrets there,And a broad newelled stair,And a cool well for crystal water;Yes; I will build a hall anon,Plant roses love shall feed upon,And apple trees and pear.”
He set to build the manor-hall,And shaped the turrets there,And the broad newelled stair,And the cool well for crystal water;He built for me that manor-hall,And planted many trees withal,But no rose anywhere.
And as he planted never a roseThat bears the flower of love,Though other flowers throveA frost-wind moved our souls to severSince he had planted never a rose;And misconceits raised horrid shows,And agonies came thereof.
“I’ll mend these miseries,” then said I,And so, at dead of night,I went and, screened from sight,That nought should keep our souls in severance,I set a rose-bush. “This,” said I,“May end divisions dire and wry,And long-drawn days of blight.”
But I was called from earth—yea, calledBefore my rose-bush grew;And would that now I knewWhat feels he of the tree I planted,And whether, after I was calledTo be a ghost, he, as of old,Gave me his heart anew!
Perhaps now blooms that queen of treesI set but saw not grow,And he, beside its glow—Eyes couched of the mis-vision that blurred me—Ay, there beside that queen of treesHe sees me as I was, though seesToo late to tell 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.]
- 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,]
- withal adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- severance n.
- The act of severing, or the state of being severed; partition; separation. Milman.
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Spell of the Rose 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 Spell of the Rose, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/the-spell-of-the-rose.html, id L24042.
Form and metre
The Spell of the Rose is 42 lines in 6 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 ABB-A-B anonA · thereB · stairB · water · anonA · upon · pearB
- 2 ABB-AAB hallA · thereB · stairB · water · hallA · withalA · anywhereB
- 3 AB--AAB roseA · loveB · throve · sever · roseA · showsA · thereofB
- 4 ABB-AAB iA · nightB · sightB · severance · iA · wryA · blightB
- 5 ABB-A-B calledA · grewB · knewB · planted · calledA · old · anewB
- 6 ABB-AAB treesA · growB · glowB · me · treesA · seesA · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| “I MEAN to build a hall anon, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And shape two turrets there, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And a broad newelled stair, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And a cool well for crystal water; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Yes; I will build a hall anon, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Plant roses love shall feed upon, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And apple trees and pear.” | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| He set to build the manor-hall, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And shaped the turrets there, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And the broad newelled stair, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And the cool well for crystal water; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| He built for me that manor-hall, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And planted many trees withal, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| But no rose anywhere. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And as he planted never a rose | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| That bears the flower of love, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Though other flowers throve | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| A frost-wind moved our souls to sever | 9 | ····/··/˘ |
| Since he had planted never a rose; | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| And misconceits raised horrid shows, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And agonies came thereof. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| “I’ll mend these miseries,” then said I, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And so, at dead of night, | 6 | ······ |
| I went and, screened from sight, | 6 | ······ |
| That nought should keep our souls in severance, | 9 | ····/··/˘ |
| I set a rose-bush. “This,” said I, | 8 | ········ |
| “May end divisions dire and wry, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And long-drawn days of blight.” | 6 | ······ |
| But I was called from earth—yea, called | 8 | ········ |
| Before my rose-bush grew; | 6 | ······ |
| And would that now I knew | 6 | ······ |
| What feels he of the tree I planted, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And whether, after I was called | 8 | ········ |
| To be a ghost, he, as of old, | 8 | ········ |
| Gave me his heart anew! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Perhaps now blooms that queen of trees | 8 | ˘/······ |
| I set but saw not grow, | 6 | ······ |
| And he, beside its glow— | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Eyes couched of the mis-vision that blurred me— | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Ay, there beside that queen of trees | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| He sees me as I was, though sees | 8 | ········ |
| Too late to tell me so! | 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.