Analysis of A Poet

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



Attentive eyes, fantastic heed,
Assessing minds, he does not need,
Nor urgent writs to sup or dine,
Nor pledges in the roseate wine.

For loud acclaim he does not care
By the august or rich or fair,
Nor for smart pilgrims from afar,
Curious on where his hauntings are.

But soon or later, when you hear
That he has doffed this wrinkled gear,
Some evening, at the first star-ray,
Come to his graveside, pause and say:

'Whatever his message his to tell
Two thoughtful women loved him well.'
Stand and say that amid the dim:
It will be praise enough for him.


Scheme AABB CCDD XXEE FFGG
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 01010101 01011111 11011111 110001001 11011111 10101111 11110101 10011111 11110111 11111101 11010111 1111101 10110111 11010111 10110101 11110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 546
Words 105
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 108
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 18, 2023

31 sec read
119

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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