Mad Judy

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



When the hamlet hailed a birth
   Judy used to cry:
When she heard our christening mirth
   She would kneel and sigh.
She was crazed, we knew, and we
Humoured her infirmity.

When the daughters and the sons
   Gathered them to wed,
And we like-intending ones
   Danced till dawn was red,
She would rock and mutter, "More
Comers to this stony shore!"

When old Headsman Death laid hands
   On a babe or twain,
She would feast, and by her brands
   Sing her songs again.
What she liked we let her do,
Judy was insane, we knew.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

29 sec read
136

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCC DEDEFF GXGXHH
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 530
Words 98
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6

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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