Analysis of The Dame of Athelhall
Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)
"Soul! Shall I see thy face," she said,
"In one brief hour?
And away with thee from a loveless bed
To a far-off sun, to a vine-wrapt bower,
And be thine own unseparated,
And challenge the world's white glower?
She quickened her feet, and met him where
They had predesigned:
And they clasped, and mounted, and cleft the air
Upon whirling wheels; till the will to bind
Her life with his made the moments there
Efface the years behind.
Miles slid, and the sight of the port upgrew
As they sped on;
When slipping its bond the bracelet flew
From her fondled arm. Replaced anon,
Its cameo of the abjured one drew
Her musings thereupon.
The gaud with his image once had been
A gift from him:
And so it was that its carving keen
Refurbished memories wearing dim,
Which set in her soul a throe of teen,
And a tear on her lashes' brim.
"I may not go!" she at length upspake,
"Thoughts call me back -
I would still lose all for your dear, dear sake;
My heart is thine, friend! But my track
I home to Athelhall must take
To hinder household wrack!"
He appealed. But they parted, weak and wan:
And he left the shore;
His ship diminished, was low, was gone;
And she heard in the waves as the daytide wore,
And read in the leer of the sun that shone,
That they parted for evermore.
She homed as she came, at the dip of eve
On Athel Coomb
Regaining the Hall she had sworn to leave . . .
The house was soundless as a tomb,
And she entered her chamber, there to grieve
Lone, kneeling, in the gloom.
From the lawn without rose her husband's voice
To one his friend:
"Another her Love, another my choice,
Her going is good. Our conditions mend;
In a change of mates we shall both rejoice;
I hoped that it thus might end!
"A quick divorce; she will make him hers,
And I wed mine.
So Time rights all things in long, long years -
Or rather she, by her bold design!
I admire a woman no balk deters:
She has blessed my life, in fine.
"I shall build new rooms for my new true bride,
Let the bygone be:
By now, no doubt, she has crossed the tide
With the man to her mind. Far happier she
In some warm vineland by his side
Than ever she was with me."
Scheme | ABABAB CACDCD BEFEFE XGHGHG IIIIII EJXJXJ KGKLKL MNMNMN OPXPOP QRQRQR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (22%) |
Metre | 11111111 01110 0011110101 10111101110 01111 01001110 110010111 111 0110100101 0110110111 011110101 010101 110011011 1111 110110101 1010111 11010111 01001 011110111 0111 011111101 010100101 110010111 00110101 11111111 1111 1111111111 11111111 111111 11011 1011110101 01101 110101111 0110011011 0100110111 1110110 1111110111 111 0100111111 0111101 0110010111 110001 1010110101 1111 0100101011 01011100101 0011111101 1111111 010111110 0111 111110111 110110101 1010101101 1111101 1111111111 1011 111111101 10110111001 01110111 1101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,221 |
Words | 427 |
Sentences | 24 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 162 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:07 min read
- 76 Views
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