Embarcation

Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)



Southampton Docks: October 1899

Here, where Vespasian's legions struck the sands,
And Cendric with the Saxons entered in,
And Henry's army lept afloat to win
Convincing triumphs over neighboring lands,

Vaster battalions press for further strands,
To argue in the selfsame bloody mode
Which this late age of thought, and pact, and code,
Still fails to mend.--Now deckward tramp the bands,

Yellow as autumn leaves, alive as spring;
And as each host draws out upon the sea
Beyond which lies the tragical To-be,
None dubious of the cause, none murmuring,

Wives, sisters, parents, wave white hands and smile,
As if they knew not that they weep the while.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
155

Quick analysis:

Scheme X ABBA ACCA DEED FF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 653
Words 111
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 2

Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy, was not a Scottish Minister, not a Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland nor a Professor of Eccesiastical History at Edinburgh University. more…

All Thomas Hardy poems | Thomas Hardy Books

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