The Roman Road

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



The Roman Road runs straight and bare
As the pale parting-line in hair
Across the heath. And thoughtful men
Contrast its days of Now and Then,
And delve, and measure, and compare;

Visioning on the vacant air
Helmeted legionnaires, who proudly rear
The Eagle, as they pace again
The Roman Road.

But no tall brass-helmeted legionnaire
Haunts it for me. Uprises there
A mother's form upon my ken,
Guiding my infant steps, as when
We walked that ancient thoroughfare,
The Roman Road.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 12, 2023

25 sec read
117

Quick analysis:

Scheme aabba axbC aabbaC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 487
Words 84
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 4, 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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    "The Roman Road" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/36551/the-roman-road>.

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