Her Dilemma

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



THE two were silent in a sunless church,
       Whose mildewed walls, uneven paving-stones,
     And wasted carvings passed antique research;
       And nothing broke the clock's dull monotones.

     Leaning against a wormy poppy-head,
       So wan and worn that he could scarcely stand,
     --For he was soon to die,--he softly said,
       "Tell me you love me!"--holding hard her hand.

     She would have given a world to breathe "yes" truly,
       So much his life seemed hanging on her mind,
     And hence she lied, her heart persuaded throughly,
       'Twas worth her soul to be a moment kind.

     But the sad need thereof, his nearing death,
       So mocked humanity that she shamed to prize
     A world conditioned thus, or care for breath
       Where Nature such dilemmas could devise.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
97

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 797
Words 126
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

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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