Analysis of The Inconsistent

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



I say, "She was as good as fair,"
   When standing by her mound;
"Such passing sweetness," I declare,
   "No longer treads the ground."
I say, "What living Love can catch
   Her bloom and bonhomie,
And what in newer maidens match
   Her olden warmth to me!"

- There stands within yon vestry-nook
   Where bonded lovers sign,
Her name upon a faded book
   With one that is not mine.
To him she breathed the tender vow
   She once had breathed to me,
But yet I say, "O love, even now
   Would I had died for thee!"


Scheme ABABCDCD EFEFGDGX
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 110101 11010101 110101 11110111 0101 01010101 010111 1101111 110101 01010101 111111 11110101 111111 111111101 111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 520
Words 101
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 184
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 11, 2023

28 sec read
124

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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