Analysis of The Temporary The All

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



CHANGE and chancefulness in my flowering youthtime,
Set me sun by sun near to one unchosen;
Wrought us fellowly, and despite divergence,
Friends interblent us.

'Cherish him can I while the true one forthcome-
Come the rich fulfiller of my prevision;
Life is roomy yet, and the odds unbounded.'
So self-communed I.

Thwart my wistful way did a damsel saunter,
Fair not fairest, good not best of her feather;
'Maiden meet,' held I, 'till arise my forefelt
Wonder of women.'

Long a visioned hermitage deep desiring,
Tenements uncouth I was fain to house in;
'Let such lodging be for a breath-while,' thought I,
'Soon a more seemly.

'Then, high handiwork will I make my life-deed,
Truth and Light outshow; but the ripe time pending,
Intermissive aim at the thing sufficeth.'
Thus I… But lo, me!

Mistress, friend, place, aims to be bettered straightway,
Bettered not has Fate or my hand's achieving
Sole the showance those of my onward earth-track-
Never transcended!


Scheme ABXX ABCD EECB FBDX XFXA XFXC
Poetic Form
Metre 101011001 111111111 111001010 111 1011110111 1011111 11101001010 1111 11101101010 11101111010 1011110111 10110 10110010100 10011111110 11101101111 1011 1110111111 1011101110 111011 11111 1011111101 10111111010 1011111011 10010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 948
Words 168
Sentences 9
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 125
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

49 sec read
99

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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