Heiress and Architect for A. W. B
SHE sought the Studios, beckoning to her sideAn arch-designer, for she planned to build.He was of wise contrivance, deeply skilledIn every intervolve of high and wide—Well fit to be her guide.
“Whatever it be,”Responded he,With cold, clear voice, and cold, clear view,“In true accord with prudent fashioningsFor such vicissitudes as living brings,And thwarting not the law of stable things,That will I do.”
“Shape me,” she said, “high halls with traceryAnd open ogive-work, that scent and hueOf buds, and travelling bees, may come in through,The note of birds, and singings of the sea,For these are much to me.”
“An idle whim!”Broke forth from himWhom nought could warm to gallantries:“Cede all these buds and birds, the zephyr’s call,And scents, and hues, and things that falter all,And choose as best the close and surly wall,For winters freeze.”
“Then frame,” she cried, “wide fronts of crystal glass,That I may show my laughter and my light—Light like the sun’s by day, the stars’ by night—Till rival heart-queens, envying, wail, ‘Alas,Her glory!’ as they pass.”
“O maid misled!”He sternly said,Whose facile foresight pierced her dire;“Where shall abide the soul when, sick of glee,It shrinks, and hides, and prays no eye may see?Those house them best who house for secrecy,For you will tire.”
“A little chamber, then, with swan and doveRanged thickly, and engrailed with rare deviceOf reds and purples, for a ParadiseWherein my Love may greet me, I my Love,When he shall know thereof?”
“This, too, is ill,”He answered still,The man who swayed her like a shade.“An hour will come when sight of such sweet nookWould bring a bitterness too sharp to brook,When brighter eyes have won away his look;For you will fade.”
Then said she faintly: “O, contrive some way—Some narrow winding turret, quite mine own,To reach a loft where I may grieve alone!It is a slight thing; hence do not, I pray,This last dear fancy slay!”
“Such winding waysFit not your days,”Said he, the man of measuring eye;“I must even fashion as my rule declares,To wit: Give space (since life ends unawares)To hale a coffined corpse adown the stairs;For you will die.”
Words in this poem 16
- intervolve v. t.
- To involve one within another; to twist or coil together. [Pref. inter- + L. volvere, volutum, to roll.]
- tracery n.
- Ornamental work with rambled lines. Especially: -- (a) The decorative head of a Gothic window.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- cede v. t.
- To yield or surrender; to give up; to resign; as, to cede a fortress, a province, or country, to another nation, by treaty. [L. cedere to withdraw, yield; akin to cadere to fall, and to E. chance; cf. F. céder.]
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
- surly a.
- Arrogant; haughty. Cotgrave. [Probably from sir, and originally meaning, sirlike, i.e., proud. See Sir, and Like, a.]
- sternly adv.
- In a stern manner.
- facile a.
- Easy to be done or performed: not difficult; performable or attainable with little labor. [L. facilis, prop., capable of being done or made, hence, facile, easy, fr. facere to make, do: cf. F. facile. Srr Fact, and cf. Faculty.]
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
- 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,]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- engrailed a.
- Indented with small concave curves, as the edge of a bordure, bend, or the like.
- swayed a.
- Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; -- said of a horse.
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Heiress and Architect for A. W. B is in the public domain. This text is taken from Wessex Poems and Other Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #3167; 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, Heiress and Architect for A. W. B, in Wessex Poems and Other Verses (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3167, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-wessex-poems/heiress-and-architect-for-a-w-b.html, id L04482.
Form and metre
Heiress and Architect for A. W. B is 60 lines in 10 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 63% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 sideA · buildB · skilledB · wideA · guideA
- 2 AABCCCB beA · heA · viewB · fashioningsC · bringsC · thingsC · doB
- 3 -AABB tracery · hueA · throughA · seaB · meB
- 4 AABCCCB whimA · himA · gallantriesB · callC · allC · wallC · freezeB
- 5 ABBAA glassA · lightB · nightB · alasA · passA
- 6 AABCC-B misledA · saidA · direB · gleeC · seeC · secrecy · tireB
- 7 ABBAA doveA · deviceB · paradiseB · loveA · thereofA
- 8 AABCCCB illA · stillA · shadeB · nookC · brookC · lookC · fadeB
- 9 ABBAA wayA · ownB · aloneB · prayA · slayA
- 10 AABCCCB waysA · daysA · eyeB · declaresC · unawaresC · stairsC · dieB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SHE sought the Studios, beckoning to her side | 11 | ···/˘·/˘··· |
| An arch-designer, for she planned to build. | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| He was of wise contrivance, deeply skilled | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| In every intervolve of high and wide— | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Well fit to be her guide. | 6 | ······ |
| “Whatever it be,” | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Responded he, | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| With cold, clear voice, and cold, clear view, | 8 | ········ |
| “In true accord with prudent fashionings | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| For such vicissitudes as living brings, | 9 | ··˘/˘·/˘· |
| And thwarting not the law of stable things, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| That will I do.” | 4 | ···· |
| “Shape me,” she said, “high halls with tracery | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And open ogive-work, that scent and hue | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Of buds, and travelling bees, may come in through, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The note of birds, and singings of the sea, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For these are much to me.” | 6 | ······ |
| “An idle whim!” | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Broke forth from him | 4 | ···· |
| Whom nought could warm to gallantries: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| “Cede all these buds and birds, the zephyr’s call, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And scents, and hues, and things that falter all, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And choose as best the close and surly wall, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For winters freeze.” | 4 | ·/˘· |
| “Then frame,” she cried, “wide fronts of crystal glass, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That I may show my laughter and my light— | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Light like the sun’s by day, the stars’ by night— | 10 | ·········· |
| Till rival heart-queens, envying, wail, ‘Alas, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Her glory!’ as they pass.” | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| “O maid misled!” | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| He sternly said, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Whose facile foresight pierced her dire; | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| “Where shall abide the soul when, sick of glee, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| It shrinks, and hides, and prays no eye may see? | 10 | ·········· |
| Those house them best who house for secrecy, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| For you will tire.” | 5 | ···/˘ |
| “A little chamber, then, with swan and dove | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Ranged thickly, and engrailed with rare device | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| Of reds and purples, for a Paradise | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Wherein my Love may greet me, I my Love, | 10 | ·········· |
| When he shall know thereof?” | 6 | ······ |
| “This, too, is ill,” | 4 | ···· |
| He answered still, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| The man who swayed her like a shade. | 8 | ········ |
| “An hour will come when sight of such sweet nook | 10 | ·/········ |
| Would bring a bitterness too sharp to brook, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| When brighter eyes have won away his look; | 9 | ·/···˘/·· |
| For you will fade.” | 4 | ···· |
| Then said she faintly: “O, contrive some way— | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Some narrow winding turret, quite mine own, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| To reach a loft where I may grieve alone! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| It is a slight thing; hence do not, I pray, | 10 | ·········· |
| This last dear fancy slay!” | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “Such winding ways | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Fit not your days,” | 4 | ···· |
| Said he, the man of measuring eye; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| “I must even fashion as my rule declares, | 10 | ··//˘···˘/ |
| To wit: Give space (since life ends unawares) | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To hale a coffined corpse adown the stairs; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| For you will die.” | 4 | ···· |
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