Thoughts of Phena at News of Her Death
NOT a line of her writing have I,Not a thread of her hair,No mark of her late time as dame in her dwelling, wherebyI may picture her there;And in vain do I urge my unsightTo conceive my lost prizeAt her close, whom I knew when her dreams were upbrimming with light,And with laughter her eyes.
What scenes spread around her last days,Sad, shining, or dim?Did her gifts and compassions enray and enarch her sweet waysWith an aureate nimb?Or did life-light decline from her years,And mischances controlHer full day-star; unease, or regret, or forebodings, or fearsDisennoble her soul?
Thus I do but the phantom retainOf the maiden of yoreAs my relic; yet haply the best of her—fined in my brainIt maybe the moreThat no line of her writing have I,Nor a thread of her hair,No mark of her late time as dame in her dwelling, wherebyI may picture her there.
Words in this poem
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- unsight a.
- Doing or done without sight; not seeing or examining.
- enarch v. t.
- To arch. Lydgate.
- aureate a.
- Golden; gilded. Skelton. [L. aureatus, fr. aureus golden, fr. aurum gold.]
- unease n.
- Want of ease; uneasiness.
- disennoble v. t.
- To deprive of that which ennobles; to degrade.
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Thoughts of Phena at News of Her Death 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, Thoughts of Phena at News of Her Death, in Wessex Poems and Other Verses (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3167, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-wessex-poems/thoughts-of-phena-at-news-of-her-death.html, id L04471.
Form and metre
Thoughts of Phena at News of Her Death is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 97%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 46% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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 ABABCDCD iA · hairB · wherebyA · thereB · unsightC · prizeD · lightC · eyesD
- 2 ABABCDCD daysA · dimB · waysA · nimbB · yearsC · controlD · fearsC · soulD
- 3 ABABCDCD retainA · yoreB · brainA · moreB · iC · hairD · wherebyC · thereD
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| NOT a line of her writing have I, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Not a thread of her hair, | 6 | ······ |
| No mark of her late time as dame in her dwelling, whereby | 14 | ··········/˘·· |
| I may picture her there; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| And in vain do I urge my unsight | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| To conceive my lost prize | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| At her close, whom I knew when her dreams were upbrimming with light, | 15 | ··············· |
| And with laughter her eyes. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| What scenes spread around her last days, | 8 | ········ |
| Sad, shining, or dim? | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Did her gifts and compassions enray and enarch her sweet ways | 15 | ····˘/˘···˘/··· |
| With an aureate nimb? | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Or did life-light decline from her years, | 9 | ····˘/··· |
| And mischances control | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Her full day-star; unease, or regret, or forebodings, or fears | 15 | ····˘/·˘/·˘/˘·· |
| Disennoble her soul? | 6 | ······ |
| Thus I do but the phantom retain | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| Of the maiden of yore | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| As my relic; yet haply the best of her—fined in my brain | 15 | ··/˘·/˘········ |
| It maybe the more | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| That no line of her writing have I, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Nor a thread of her hair, | 6 | ······ |
| No mark of her late time as dame in her dwelling, whereby | 14 | ··········/˘·· |
| I may picture her there. | 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.