Hymeneal Retrospections
O KATE! my dear Partner, through joy and through strife!When I look back at Hymen's dear day,Not a lovelier bride ever chang'd to a wife,Though you're now so old, wizen'd, and gray!
Those eyes, then, were stars, shining rulers of fate!But as liquid as stars in a pool;Though now they're so dim, they appear, my dear Kate,Just like gooseberries boil'd for a fool!
That brow was like marble, so smooth and so fair;Though it's wrinkled so crookedly now,As if time, when those furrows were made by the share,Had been tipsy whilst driving his plough!
Your nose, it was such as the sculptors all chose,When a Venus demanded their skill;Though now it can hardly be reckon'd a nose,But a sort of Poll-Parroty bill!
Your mouth, it was then quite a bait for the bees,Such a nectar there hung on each lip;Though now it has taken that lemon-like squeeze,Not a blue-bottle comes for a sip!
Your chin, it was one of Love's favorite haunts,From its dimple he could not get loose;Though now the neat hand of a barber it wants,Or a singe, like the breast of a goose!
How rich were those locks, so abundant and full,With their ringlets of auburn so deep!Though now they look only like frizzles of wool,By a bramble torn off from a sheep!
That neck, not a swan could excel it in grace,While in whiteness it vied with your arms;Though now a grave 'kerchief you properly place,To conceal that scrag-end of your charms!
Your figure was tall, then, and perfectly straight,Though it now has two twists from upright--But bless you! still bless you! my Partner! my Kate!Though you be such a perfect old fright!
Words in this poem
- kate n.
- The brambling finch.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- crookedly adv.
- In a curved or crooked manner; in a perverse or untoward manner.
- dimple n.
- A slight natural depression or indentation on the surface of some part of the body, esp. on the cheek or chin. [Prob. a nasalized dim. of dip. See Dip, and cf. Dimble.]
- barber n.
- One whose occupation it is to shave or trim the beard, and to cut and dress the hair of his patrons. Barber's itch. See under Itch. [OE. barbour, OF. barbeor, F. barbier, as if fr. an assumed L. barbator, fr. barba beard. See 1st Barb.]
- auburn a.
- Flaxen-colored. Florio. [OE. auburne blonde, OF. alborne, auborne, fr. LL. alburnus whitish, fr. L. albus white. Cf. Alburn.]
- bramble n.
- Any plant of the genus Rubus, including the raspberry and blackberry. Hence: Any rough, prickly shrub. [OE. brembil, AS.brbramal), fr. the same root as E. broom, As. br. See Broom.]
- scrag n.
- Something thin, lean, or rough; a bony piece; especially, a bony neckpiece of meat; hence, humorously or in contempt, the neck. [Cf. dial. Sw. skraka a great dry tree, a long, lean man, Gael. sgreagach dry, shriveled, rocky. See Shrink, and cf. Scrog, Shrag, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hymeneal Retrospections is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; 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 Hood, Hymeneal Retrospections, in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/hymeneal-retrospections.html, id L20178.
Form and metre
Hymeneal Retrospections is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is anapaestic common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in anapaestic common 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 strifeA · dayB · wifeA · grayB
- 2 ABAB fateA · poolB · kateA · foolB
- 3 ABAB fairA · nowB · shareA · ploughB
- 4 ABAB choseA · skillB · noseA · billB
- 5 ABAB beesA · lipB · squeezeA · sipB
- 6 ABAB hauntsA · looseB · wantsA · gooseB
- 7 ABAB fullA · deepB · woolA · sheepB
- 8 ABAB graceA · armsB · placeA · charmsB
- 9 ABAB straightA · uprightB · kateA · frightB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O KATE! my dear Partner, through joy and through strife! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| When I look back at Hymen's dear day, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Not a lovelier bride ever chang'd to a wife, | 11 | ······/···· |
| Though you're now so old, wizen'd, and gray! | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Those eyes, then, were stars, shining rulers of fate! | 11 | ·····/˘/˘·· |
| But as liquid as stars in a pool; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Though now they're so dim, they appear, my dear Kate, | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| Just like gooseberries boil'd for a fool! | 9 | ··/·˘···· |
| That brow was like marble, so smooth and so fair; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Though it's wrinkled so crookedly now, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘˘· |
| As if time, when those furrows were made by the share, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Had been tipsy whilst driving his plough! | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| Your nose, it was such as the sculptors all chose, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| When a Venus demanded their skill; | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘·· |
| Though now it can hardly be reckon'd a nose, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| But a sort of Poll-Parroty bill! | 9 | ········· |
| Your mouth, it was then quite a bait for the bees, | 11 | ··········· |
| Such a nectar there hung on each lip; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Though now it has taken that lemon-like squeeze, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Not a blue-bottle comes for a sip! | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Your chin, it was one of Love's favorite haunts, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| From its dimple he could not get loose; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Though now the neat hand of a barber it wants, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Or a singe, like the breast of a goose! | 9 | ········· |
| How rich were those locks, so abundant and full, | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| With their ringlets of auburn so deep! | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Though now they look only like frizzles of wool, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| By a bramble torn off from a sheep! | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| That neck, not a swan could excel it in grace, | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| While in whiteness it vied with your arms; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Though now a grave 'kerchief you properly place, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| To conceal that scrag-end of your charms! | 9 | ·˘/······ |
| Your figure was tall, then, and perfectly straight, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Though it now has two twists from upright-- | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| But bless you! still bless you! my Partner! my Kate! | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Though you be such a perfect old fright! | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
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.