Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
Satires of Circumstance in Fifteen Glimpses VIII: In the Study
1He enters, and mute on the edge of a chair
2Sits a thin-faced lady, a stranger there,
3A type of decayed gentility;
4And by some small signs he well can guess
5That she comes to him almost breakfastless.
6"I have called -- I hope I do not err --
7I am looking for a purchaser
8Of some score volumes of the works
9Of eminent divines I own, --
10Left by my father -- though it irks
11My patience to offer them." And she smiles
12As if necessity were unknown;
13"But the truth of it is that oftenwhiles
14I have wished, as I am fond of art,
15To make my rooms a little smart,
16And these old books are so in the way."
17And lightly still she laughs to him,
18As if to sell were a mere gay whim,
19And that, to be frank, Life were indeed
20To her not vinegar and gall,
21But fresh and honey-like; and Need
22No household skeleton at all.
Notes
9] divines: ministers, preachers, theologians.
15-16] smart,: "smart." in 1914.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: . Collected Poems of Thomas Hardy (London: Macmillan and Co., 1932): 394-95. PR 4741 F32 Robarts Library.
First publication date:
1915
Publication date note: Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries with Miscellaneous Pieces (London: Macmillan, 1915): 66. PR 4750 S3 1914 Robarts Library
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 1998.
Recent editing: 2:2002/2/13
Composition date:
1914
Form note: irregular couplets, quatrains
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