The Year’s Awakening
HOW do you know that the pilgrim trackAlong the belting zodiacSwept by the sun in his seeming roundsIs traced by now to the Fishes’ boundsAnd into the Ram, when weeks of cloudHave wrapt the sky in a clammy shroud,And never as yet a tinct of springHas shown in the Earth’s apparelling;O vespering bird, how do you know,How do you know?
How do you know, deep underground,Hid in your bed from sight and sound,Without a turn in temperature,With weather life can scarce endure,That light has won a fraction’s strength,And day put on some moments’ length,Whereof in merest rote will come,Weeks hence, mild airs that do not numb;O crocus root, how do you know,How do you know?
Words in this poem
- belting n.
- The material of which belts for machinery are made; also, belts, taken collectively.
- tinct n.
- Color; tinge; tincture; tint. [See Tint.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- rote v. t.
- To learn or repeat by rote.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Year’s Awakening 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 Year’s Awakening, in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2863, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-satires/the-year-s-awakening.html, id L24040.
Form and metre
The Year’s Awakening is 20 lines in 2 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 AABBCCDDEE trackA · zodiacA · roundsB · boundsB · cloudC · shroudC · springD · apparellingD · knowE · knowE
- 2 AA--BBCCDD undergroundA · soundA · temperature · endure · strengthB · lengthB · comeC · numbC · knowD · knowD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| HOW do you know that the pilgrim track | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Along the belting zodiac | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Swept by the sun in his seeming rounds | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Is traced by now to the Fishes’ bounds | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And into the Ram, when weeks of cloud | 9 | ········· |
| Have wrapt the sky in a clammy shroud, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And never as yet a tinct of spring | 8 | ·/······ |
| Has shown in the Earth’s apparelling; | 9 | ·····˘/˘˘ |
| O vespering bird, how do you know, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| How do you know? | 4 | ···· |
| How do you know, deep underground, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Hid in your bed from sight and sound, | 8 | ········ |
| Without a turn in temperature, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| With weather life can scarce endure, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| That light has won a fraction’s strength, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And day put on some moments’ length, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whereof in merest rote will come, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Weeks hence, mild airs that do not numb; | 8 | ········ |
| O crocus root, how do you know, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| How do you know? | 4 | ···· |
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.