“I Look into My Glass”
I LOOK into my glass,And view my wasting skin,And say, “Would God it came to passMy heart had shrunk as thin!”
For then, I, undistrestBy hearts grown cold to me,Could lonely wait my endless restWith equanimity.
But Time, to make me grieve;Part steals, lets part abide;And shakes this fragile frame at eveWith throbbings of noontide.
Words in this poem
- equanimity n.
- Evenness of mind; that calm temper or firmness of mind which is not easily elated or depressed; patience; calmness; composure; as, to bear misfortunes with equanimity. [L. aequanimitas, fr. aequanimus: cf. F. équanimité. See Equanimous.]
- noontide n.
- The time of noon; midday. [From noon + tide time; cf. AS. n the ninth hour.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
“I Look into My Glass” 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, “I Look into My Glass”, in Wessex Poems and Other Verses (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3167, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-wessex-poems/i-look-into-my-glass.html, id L04485.
Form and metre
“I Look into My Glass” is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is short measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.5 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in short measure.
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 ABAB glassA · skinB · passA · thinB
- 2 A-A- undistrestA · me · restA · equanimity
- 3 ABAB grieveA · abideB · eveA · noontideB
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 short measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I LOOK into my glass, | 6 | ······ |
| And view my wasting skin, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And say, “Would God it came to pass | 8 | ········ |
| My heart had shrunk as thin!” | 6 | ······ |
| For then, I, undistrest | 6 | ······ |
| By hearts grown cold to me, | 6 | ······ |
| Could lonely wait my endless rest | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With equanimity. | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| But Time, to make me grieve; | 6 | ······ |
| Part steals, lets part abide; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And shakes this fragile frame at eve | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With throbbings of noontide. | 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.