Middle-Age Enthusiasms to M. H
WE passed where flag and flowerSignalled a jocund throng;We said: “Go to, the hourIs apt!”—and joined the song;And, kindling, laughed at life and care,Although we knew no laugh lay there.
We walked where shy birds stoodWatching us, wonder-dumb;Their friendship met our mood;We cried: “We’ll often come:We’ll come morn, noon, eve, everywhen!”—We doubted we should come again.
We joyed to see strange sheensLeap from quaint leaves in shade;A secret light of greensThey’d for their pleasure made.We said: “We’ll set such sorts as these!”—We knew with night the wish would cease.
“So sweet the place,” we said,“Its tacit tales so dear,Our thoughts, when breath has sped,Will meet and mingle here!” . . .“Words!” mused we. “Passed the mortal door,Our thoughts will reach this nook no more.”
Words in this poem
- jocund
- Merry; cheerful; gay; airy; lively; sportive. [L. jocundus, jucundus, orig., helpful, fr. juvare to help. See Aid.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- everywhen adv.
- At any or all times; every instant.
- quaint a.
- Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
- tacit a.
- Done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent; as, tacit consent is consent by silence, or by not interposing an objection. [L. tacitus, p.p. of tacere to be silent, to pass over in silence; akin to Goth. to be silent, Icel. , OHG. dagen: cf. F. tacite. Cf. Reticent.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Middle-Age Enthusiasms to M. H 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, Middle-Age Enthusiasms to M. H, in Wessex Poems and Other Verses (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3167, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-wessex-poems/middle-age-enthusiasms-to-m-h.html, id L04472.
Form and metre
Middle-Age Enthusiasms to M. H is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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 ABABCC flowerA · throngB · hourA · songB · careC · thereC
- 2 -A-ABB stood · dumbA · mood · comeA · everywhenB · againB
- 3 ABAB-- sheensA · shadeB · greensA · madeB · these · cease
- 4 ABABCC saidA · dearB · spedA · hereB · doorC · moreC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WE passed where flag and flower | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Signalled a jocund throng; | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| We said: “Go to, the hour | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Is apt!”—and joined the song; | 6 | ······ |
| And, kindling, laughed at life and care, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Although we knew no laugh lay there. | 8 | ········ |
| We walked where shy birds stood | 6 | ······ |
| Watching us, wonder-dumb; | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Their friendship met our mood; | 6 | ·/˘·/· |
| We cried: “We’ll often come: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| We’ll come morn, noon, eve, everywhen!” | 9 | ·····/˘˘˘ |
| —We doubted we should come again. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| We joyed to see strange sheens | 6 | ······ |
| Leap from quaint leaves in shade; | 6 | ······ |
| A secret light of greens | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| They’d for their pleasure made. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| We said: “We’ll set such sorts as these!” | 8 | ········ |
| —We knew with night the wish would cease. | 8 | ········ |
| “So sweet the place,” we said, | 6 | ······ |
| “Its tacit tales so dear, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Our thoughts, when breath has sped, | 6 | /····· |
| Will meet and mingle here!” . . . | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “Words!” mused we. “Passed the mortal door, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Our thoughts will reach this nook no more.” | 8 | /······· |
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.