Analysis of The Death Of Regret

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



I opened my shutter at sunrise,
And looked at the hill hard by,
And I heartily grieved for the comrade
Who wandered up there to die.

I let in the morn on the morrow,
And failed not to think of him then,
As he trod up that rise in the twilight,
And never came down again.

I undid the shutter a week thence,
But not until after I'd turned
Did I call back his last departure
By the upland there discerned.

Uncovering the casement long later,
I bent to my toil till the gray,
When I said to myself, 'Ah - what ails me,
To forget him all the day!'

As daily I flung back the shutter
In the same blank bald routine,
He scarcely once rose to remembrance
Through a month of my facing the scene.

And ah, seldom now do I ponder
At the window as heretofore
On the long valued one who died yonder,
And wastes by the sycamore.


Scheme XAXA XBXB XCDC DEXE DFXF DGDG
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11011011 0110111 011001101 1101111 110011010 01111111 111111001 0101101 101010011 11011011 111111010 1010101 010001110 11111101 111111111 1011101 110111010 0011101 110111010 101111001 011011110 1010101 1011011110 011010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 797
Words 165
Sentences 7
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 105
Words per stanza (avg) 27
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

49 sec read
56

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

11 fans

Discuss this Thomas Hardy poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "The Death Of Regret" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36503/the-death-of-regret>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    11
    hours
    53
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    In poetry, the word "foot" refers to _______.
    A a unit of 12 lines
    B one stanza
    C two or more syllables
    D a dozen poems