In a Wood See “The Woodlanders”
PALE beech and pine-tree blue,Set in one clay,Bough to bough cannot youBide out your day?When the rains skim and skip,Why mar sweet comradeship,Blighting with poison-dripNeighbourly spray?
Heart-halt and spirit-lame,City-opprest,Unto this wood I cameAs to a nest;Dreaming that sylvan peaceOffered the harrowed ease—Nature a soft releaseFrom men’s unrest.
But, having entered in,Great growths and smallShow them to men akin—Combatants all!Sycamore shoulders oak,Bines the slim sapling yoke,Ivy-spun halters chokeElms stout and tall.
Touches from ash, O wych,Sting you like scorn!You, too, brave hollies, twitchSidelong from thorn.Even the rank poplars bearIlly a rival’s air,Cankering in black despairIf overborne.
Since, then, no grace I findTaught me of trees,Turn I back to my kind,Worthy as these.There at least smiles abound,There discourse trills around,There, now and then, are foundLife-loyalties.
Words in this poem
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- comradeship n.
- The state of being a comrade; intimate fellowship.
- blighting a.
- Causing blight.
- drip v. i.
- To fall in drops; as, water drips from the eaves. [Akin to LG. drippen, Dan. dryppe, from a noun. See Drop.]
- unrest n.
- Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude.
- sidelong adv.
- Laterally; obliquely; in the direction of the side. [See Sideling, adv.]
- illy adv.
- Etym: [A word not fully approved, but sometimes used for the adverb ill.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In a Wood See “The Woodlanders” 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, In a Wood See “The Woodlanders”, in Wessex Poems and Other Verses (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3167, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-wessex-poems/in-a-wood-see-the-woodlanders.html, id L04473.
Form and metre
In a Wood See “The Woodlanders” is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCCB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.3 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABABCCCB blueA · clayB · youA · dayB · skipC · comradeshipC · dripC · sprayB
- 2 ABABC-CB lameA · opprestB · cameA · nestB · peaceC · ease · releaseC · unrestB
- 3 ABABCCCB inA · smallB · akinA · allB · oakC · yokeC · chokeC · tallB
- 4 ABABCCCB wychA · scornB · twitchA · thornB · bearC · airC · despairC · overborneB
- 5 ABABCCCB findA · treesB · kindA · theseB · aboundC · aroundC · foundC · loyaltiesB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| PALE beech and pine-tree blue, | 6 | ······ |
| Set in one clay, | 4 | ···· |
| Bough to bough cannot you | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Bide out your day? | 4 | ···· |
| When the rains skim and skip, | 6 | ······ |
| Why mar sweet comradeship, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Blighting with poison-drip | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Neighbourly spray? | 4 | ···· |
| Heart-halt and spirit-lame, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| City-opprest, | 5 | /˘/˘˘ |
| Unto this wood I came | 6 | ······ |
| As to a nest; | 4 | ···· |
| Dreaming that sylvan peace | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Offered the harrowed ease— | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Nature a soft release | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| From men’s unrest. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| But, having entered in, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Great growths and small | 4 | ···· |
| Show them to men akin— | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Combatants all! | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| Sycamore shoulders oak, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Bines the slim sapling yoke, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Ivy-spun halters choke | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Elms stout and tall. | 4 | ···· |
| Touches from ash, O wych, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Sting you like scorn! | 4 | ···· |
| You, too, brave hollies, twitch | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sidelong from thorn. | 4 | /˘·· |
| Even the rank poplars bear | 6 | /··/˘· |
| Illy a rival’s air, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Cankering in black despair | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| If overborne. | 4 | ···· |
| Since, then, no grace I find | 6 | ······ |
| Taught me of trees, | 4 | ···· |
| Turn I back to my kind, | 6 | ······ |
| Worthy as these. | 4 | /˘·· |
| There at least smiles abound, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| There discourse trills around, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There, now and then, are found | 6 | ······ |
| Life-loyalties. | 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.