HARDY'S DANGEROUS COMPANION:

A STUDY OF THE POETIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

THOMAS HARDY AND A.C. SWINBURNE
by
EILEEN DELEHANTY PEARKES
B.A. S t a n f o r d U n i v e r s i t y , 1983
THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
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THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

October 1991
(c) E i l e e n

D e l e h a n t y P e a r k e s , 1991

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^MQrUtSM

The University of British Columbia

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Date

DE-6 (2/88)

oa-

it

mi

ABSTRACT

Thomas
shortly
the

Hardy's

after

two

elegy

h i s death,

poets

which

between

explored

twentieth

purpose

by

of this

points

goes

relationship

t o A.C.

to a poetic

beyond

Hardy

t o examine

Singer

Asleep"

Swinburne
lively

period

intellectual
although
career

as a poet,

provided

him with

continued
components
with
but

rather

as

Hardy

lived
them

an e n d u r i n g

after

may

The

adequately

i t i s the

central

parallels

between

have

he

technique

t o Swinburne

both

entitled

identified

with

part,

with

creative

of prosody.

i n those early

as a

days

metrical

exhibit

n o t s o much

i n poems

prosody are s i m i l a r

And

of

which

Several
connection
influence

borrowing of

h i sdistinct

and

i n London

poet.

suggest a sympathetic
reflecting

eclipsed h i s

f o r Swinburne's work

d i d not result

experiments i n c l a s s i c a l

much

temporarily

h i s career

Hardy's

Hardy's adaptations

i n t h e 1860s,

i n the area

sympathy

resumed

on Hardy's

i n London

novelist

t h e seeds planted

inspiration.

unique

character;

both

provided

career

o f Hardy's

Swinburne

forms

His

long

and

more c l o s e l y

sustenance, including

Hardy's

influence.

of technique.

and Hardy
which

or

between

A n a l y s i s of Hardy's elegy

s u g g e s t s how

Swinburne on t h e l e v e l

i n 1910

relationship

admiration

critics,

them on t h e l e v e l o f t e c h n i q u e .
"A

composed

and Swinburne has n o t been

century

thesis

Swinburne,

several

identical

poetic

style.

t o Swinburne's

iii

in

their

willingness

trisyllabic

to

resist

s u b s t i t u t i o n , Hardy

convention.
has

tested

In

the

his

limits

use
of

of
this

t e c h n i q u e j u s t as Swinburne has, and i t can be argued t h a t Hardy i s

u l t i m a t e l y more s u c c e s s f u l
line.
use

The

two

i n h i s attempts t o

poets a l s o conducted e x t e n s i v e

loosen

iambic

experiments i n the

of rhyme, e i t h e r through i m i t a t i o n of e s t a b l i s h e d schemes or

i n v e n t i o n of new
This

patterns.

comparison

of

the

techniques

of

Swinburne

prompts some r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n of Hardy as a n a i v e

and

suggests t h a t he was

use

of prosody than has

critics.

in

f a r more l e a r n e d

and

this

Swinburne.

and

and

Hardy

clumsy poet,

considerate

been concluded by many

Hardy's uneven but h i g h l y e x p r e s s i v e

not n a i v e t e ,
was

the

in his

twentieth-century

rhythms demonstrate

but a d e s i r e t o t e s t the bounds of t r a d i t i o n , and i t

desire

that

he

found

poetic

companionship

with

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract

i i

T a b l e o f Contents

iv

Acknowledgements

I.

"A S i n g e r A s l e e p "

II.

Swinburne and Hardy i n London i n t h e 1860s

I I I . Common Forms: a comparison o f s e v e r a l poems

19

IV.

Experiments i n C l a s s i c a l

32

V.

T r i s y l l a b i c S u b s t i t u t i o n and t h e Iambic Q u a t r a i n

53

VI.

Rhyme

57

VII. Conclusion

64

Bibliography

72

Prosody

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T h i s t h e s i s began and has been completed as a

result

of the assistance,

knowledge
Busza.
of

my

o f my

encouragement and

advisor,

Professor

Andrew

I o f f e r s p e c i a l thanks t o t h e members
committee:

Professor

John

Professor

Wisenthal

Lee Johnson and

f o r sharing

their

time and e x p e r t i s e , and t o Pamela D a l z i e l f o r

her

energy and i n t e r e s t .

should

A d d i t i o n a l thanks

go t o t h e s t a f f o f t h e R i d d i n g t o n

i n t h e UBC Main L i b r a r y .
gratitude
without

t o my
whose

I a l s o owe a debt o f

husband,

hours

of

Room

Timothy

Pearkes,

child-minding

and

enduring i n t e l l e c t u a l support I c o u l d not have

continued

this project.

1
I.
In

1910

Thomas Hardy v i s i t e d

the grave

o f Algernon

Charles

Swinburne i n Bonchurch on the I s l e of Wight t o pay h i s r e s p e c t s t o

the f i e r y , red-headed poet whose l y r i c s had s c a n d a l i z e d t h e s t a i d
Victorian

literary

world

of the 1860s and

1870s.

The

occasion

prompted Hardy t o compose an e l e g y t o Swinburne e n t i t l e d "A S i n g e r

Asleep"

just

B a u d e l a i r e almost
Atque

Vale."

as

Swinburne

elegized

the

literary

rebel

f i f t y years e a r l i e r w i t h h i s l y r i c t r i b u t e
The

had

elegy

is

nostalgic

record

of

"Ave

Hardy's

f a s c i n a t i o n w i t h and a d m i r a t i o n f o r Swinburne, and w i t h i t Hardy

pays t r i b u t e t o what he b e l i e v e d t o be Swinburne's c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o
l i t e r a t u r e : a r t i s t i c freedom, p r o s o d i c e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n and d i s d a i n
for

Victorian

profound
charged

prudery.

connection
with

Yet, the poem may

between

empathetic

the two

as

well

as

also

poets.

if

a more

Hardy's t r i b u t e i s

sympathetic

expresses more than f a s c i n a t i o n and a d m i r a t i o n .

r e l a t i o n s h i p t o Swinburne?

suggest

overtones

What was

and

Hardy's

D i d he i d e n t i f y s t r o n g l y w i t h him, and

so, i n what sense?

The

poem opens w i t h

F a t e s have f i t l y
Hardy's

use

Swinburne's

of

an impression

of the p l a c e where "the

bidden" t h a t Swinburne be b u r i e d : the seacoast.

"Fates"

appropriately reflects

neo-paganism.

Indeed,

Millgate

h i s respect f o r
writes

that

this

r e s p e c t i n c l i n e d him t o be "much o f f e n d e d " by the c r o s s which had

See "'Ave Atque V a l e ' : An I n t r o d u c t i o n t o Swinburne." In t h i s
essay, Jerome J . McGann o f f e r s an e x h a u s t i v e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the
e l e g y i n which he p r e s e n t s i t as r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of Swinburne's
" o b s e s s i o n " w i t h death and as a t r i b u t e t o the French poet and h i s
vision.
1

2
been p l a c e d

on t h e grave - i n v i o l a t i o n

Hardy b e l i e v e d
playful

(467).

and i r o n i c

o f Swinburne's wishes,

In t h e next stanza, he echoes Swinburne's

use o f r e l i g i o u s

figures

by d e s c r i b i n g t h e

e f f e c t o f t h e r e l e a s e o f Poems & B a l l a d s "as though a g a r l a n d o f

red

r o s e s / Had f a l l e n about t h e hood of some smug nun."

The

imagery Hardy chooses i n d i c a t e s deep f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h Swinburne's

v e r s e , and a d m i r a t i o n f o r t h e s t a r t l i n g e f f e c t i t may have had on
" V i c t o r i a ' s f o r m a l middle time."
It
words,

i s w i t h "quick g l a d s u r p r i s e " t h a t Hardy f i r s t

in classic

guise,"

indicating

h i s pleasure

read

both

"New

i n the

content which r e j e c t s convention w h i l e embracing o r i g i n a l i t y , and

in

t h e form, which

operates w i t h i n

"classic"

constraints.

The

f o l l o w i n g s t a n z a r e i t e r a t e s t h i s i d e a by p r a i s i n g t h e " p a s s i o n a t e
pages" f o r t h e i r honest d e s c r i p t i o n s o f "hot s i g h s , sad l a u g h t e r s ,
k i s s e s , t e a r s " and t h e poet, who "Blew them not n a i v e l y , but as one
who knew / F u l l w e l l why thus he blew."
Swinburne

composed

poetry

with

Here Hardy a s s e r t s

conscious

recognition

that

of the

knowledge o f t h e c r a f t o f p o e t r y .
Swinburne's knowledge
Hardy's d e p i c t i o n

and a b i l i t i e s

o f Sappho.

Rising

are praised

further i n

from t h e water "as a dim /

Lone s h i n e upon t h e heaving hydrosphere," she g r e e t s t h e phantom

poet

and

suggests t h a t

fragments o f her v e r s e ,
thine."*

no

need

to discover

a s s u r i n g him t h a t ,

Swinburne's v e r s e ,

replacement

exists

f o r the l o s t

Hardy

"'Sufficient

suggests,

fragments

of

r e c o g n i z e d f o r h e r s k i l l f u l use of metre.

the

is a
Greek

lost

now a r e

"sufficient"
poet

who i s

H i s s u g g e s t i o n of p o e t i c

3
lineage

reflects

Swinburne's s k i l l
poetry.

profoundly
and

the

recognized

degree

to

which

Hardy

admired

the t e c h n i c a l b r i l l i a n c e of h i s

Hardy's d e l i b e r a t e r e t u r n i n the next

stanza to h i s

own

p e r s p e c t i v e perhaps a l s o suggests a p o e t i c

s u c c e s s i o n : t h a t which

Sappho g r a c i o u s l y passes t o Swinburne may,

i n Hardy's mind, have

been passed on t o h i m s e l f .
The

form of the e l e g y a l s o pays t r i b u t e t o Swinburne's range

of technique by e x h i b i t i n g a v a r i e t y of stanza forms .

Four of the

s t a n z a s are q u i n t e t s , f o u r are s e s t e t s , w h i l e the c o n c l u d i n g stanza

i s an o c t e t ; a l l are u n i f i e d by the use of a shortened
The

basic

iambic

substitution,
couplet

form

and
to

e f f e c t i s one
a fitting

rhythm
the

i s v a r i e d with

rhyme p a t t e r n s

alternating

and

are

then

to

use

of

line.

tri-syllabic

unfixed,

ranging

enclosed.

The

p r o s o d i c t r i b u t e t o a poet who

overall

c h a l l e n g e d the

accepted

experimented w i d e l y

within

tradition.
Hardy's

elegy,

Swinburne's l y r i c a l

therefore,
gifts,

possessed
those
argued

with

by

reflects

his

as w e l l as f o r the

h i s c h o i c e of s u b j e c t matter.

admiration

I t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t the

Swinburne which Hardy

emphasized

elegy

"must t r e a t

of

no

qualities

i n h i s elegy

which Hardy most s t r o n g l y i d e n t i f i e d .

t h a t an

emphasis);

self-reflexive

this
would

interpretation
indicate that

of

subject

the

Hardy's

for

l a t t e r ' s daring i n

elegy

are

Coleridge

has

for i t s e l f ;

but

always and e x c l u s i v e l y w i t h r e f e r e n c e t o the poet h i m s e l f . . . "

his

from

of r i c h n e s s and v a r i e t y of sound, rhythm and metre,

p r a c t i c e s of c o n v e n t i o n a l prosody and
the

the

final

as

chosen

(263,

essentially
details

and

p e r s p e c t i v e s on Swinburne o f f e r c l u e s as t o how he regards

as

a poet and t h e r e f o r e how he might i d e n t i f y w i t h

himself

h i s subject.

Hardy's f o c u s

on d e t a i l s

d e s c r i b i n g Swinburne's d e f i a n c e

constraining

influences

of

virtuosity
not

h i s metrical

They suggest t h a t he i d e n t i f i e d

Swinburne a t a l l these

elegy,

prudery,

and h i s s t u d i e d and c o n s c i o u s l y t r a d i t i o n a l

coincidental.

In

Victorian

1918 j u s t

biographer

forms a r e

s t r o n g l y with

levels.

eight years

and a decade

of t h e

before

f o l l o w i n g t h e composition

Hardy's

own

death,

of t h i s

Edmund

Gosse,

o f Swinburne and l i t e r a r y f r i e n d o f Hardy, p u b l i s h e d an

a r t i c l e i n t h e Edinburgh Review c a l l e d "Mr. Hardy's L y r i c a l Poems."

In i t he p r a i s e s Hardy's p o e t r y and p o i n t s out t h a t Hardy's c a r e e r
as

a poet

began

Poems; i n f a c t ,

many decades

before

i n 1866, i n London

t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f Wessex
t h e same year

which Poems & B a l l a d s had a s t o n i s h e d i t s r e a d e r s .

and p l a c e i n

Gosse

continues

by p o i n t i n g out t h a t even i f Hardy had been a b l e t o p u b l i s h e a r l y

i n h i s c a r e e r , " i t may w e l l be doubted whether h i s poems would have
been r e c e i v e d i n t h e m i d - V i c t o r i a n age with
been

favour,

o r even have

comprehended":
Mr.

Hardy was a s k i n g

ideas,
his

i n 1866 f o r n o v e l t y o f

and he must have been c o n s c i o u s

questioning

would

seem inopportune.

that
He

needed a d i f f e r e n t atmosphere, and he l e f t t h e

t a s k o f r e v o l t t o another, and a t f i r s t s i g h t ,
a

very

Ballads'

unrelated
of t h a t

force,
same year.

the

'Poems

and

But Swinburne

5
succeeded i n h i s r e v o l u t i o n , and although he
approached t h e a r t from an o p p o s i t e d i r e c t i o n ,
he

prepared

appreciation
in

their

way

for

ultimate

o f Mr. Hardy....The d i f f e r e n c e s

and t h e sympathy

f o r one another's

been r e v e a l e d ,
exposed.

an

s t y l e s do not a f f e c t t h e i r

attitude,
artists

the

common

o f these
work

has

great
already

and w i l l be s t i l l more c l e a r l y

(273-4)

Gosse's a r t i c l e was indeed p r e s c i e n t , but i r o n i c a l l y so.

In

f a c t , r a t h e r than "expose" t h e "sympathy o f these g r e a t a r t i s t s f o r

one
on

another's work," t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y
their

differences

basis, dismissed
survey

o f Hardy

c r i t i c i s m has c o n c e n t r a t e d

i n s t y l e and d i c t i o n and l a r g e l y on t h a t

Swinburne as any k i n d o f " i n f l u e n c e " on Hardy.

criticism

provides

little

evidence

o f Gosse's

a n t i c i p a t e d e x p o s i t i o n of the poets* common a t t i t u d e and "sympathy"

f o r each o t h e r ' s
that
and

work.

" i t i s a strange,

In 1930,

H.J.C. G r i e r s o n

commented

wheezy note i s Hardy's, a f t e r t h e clamour

c l a n g o u r o f Swinburne."

In 1946, C M . Bowra wrote t h a t "the

poets Hardy most loved, S c o t t , S h e l l e y , Keats, and Swinburne

no

trace"

determined

on h i s work,
h i s outlook

and t h a t
(222) .

his origins

as a

I n 1969 Kenneth

is

striking

that

except

f o r the

Shakespearian

provenance

of

sonnets,

Browning's

influence

only

some

early
really

left

countryman

Marsden

Bowra:
It

only

echoed

6
shows i n Hardy.... c o n s c i o u s l y or not, [Hardy]
knew t h a t h i s f a v o r i t e s were not the food h i s
c r e a t i v e f a c u l t i e s needed.

(232)

And i n 1975 Robert G i t t i n g s commented t h a t Hardy appeared t o a l l o w

Swinburne's " l i q u i d l y r i c g i f t

[to] wash over him i n a t i d e of pure

p l e a s u r e , without once c o n s i d e r i n g i t as a model" (81).

Only r e c e n t l y have c r i t i c s and s c h o l a r s begun t o r e c o g n i z e t h e
sympathetic

connection

between

the two

Hardy's a f f i n i t i e s w i t h Swinburne.

poets,

and

to

identify

P i n i o n ' s A Commentary on Thomas

Hardy's Poetry (1976) mentions the r e l a t i o n s h i p of Swinburne's work

t o Hardy's, but p r i m a r i l y
u n t i l Ross M u r f i n ' s

1978

i n connection with

the novels.

study of Swinburne, Hardy, and

Not

Lawrence

d i d c r i t i c i s m b e g i n t o e l a b o r a t e on Gosse*s i n i t i a l o b s e r v a t i o n s .
Murfin

suggested

that

"the importance of Swinburne's

Thomas Hardy has always been underestimated,

and,

cases

year,

utterly

concluded

ignored"

t h a t although

(81).

In

the

same

poetry

to

i n nearly a l l
David

Reide

Swinburne's p o e t r y " i s g e n e r a l l y b a r d i c "

w h i l e Hardy's i s e s s e n t i a l l y

"dramatic,"

the two

poets

clearly

shared the " a t t i t u d e s " which Gosse i n s i s t s are common t o them (21718).

And f i n a l l y ,

Dennis T a y l o r ' s 1988

study o f Hardy's prosody

makes t h e f i r s t modern c r i t i c a l c o n n e c t i o n between t h e two poets on

the

level

of t e c h n i q u e .

At

last,

after

many decades,

Gosse's

i n s i g h t s a r e being "more c l e a r l y exposed" as he had p r e d i c t e d .

this

study,

I shall

move a s t e p

beyond

In

the work of T a y l o r and

M u r f i n by p r o v i d i n g comparative m e t r i c a l a n a l y s i s of s e l e c t e d v e r s e
of Swinburne and Hardy, demonstrating

t h e a f f i n i t i e s which Gosse

7
first

noted.
The c r i t i c s who looked f o r s i g n s o f i n f l u e n c e understandably

found l i t t l e evidence, f o r as Gosse p o i n t e d out o r i g i n a l l y , and as

criticism

has

recently

demonstrated,

the

connection

Swinburne and Hardy i s one o f "common a t t i t u d e . "

of

Hardy, " i n s p i t e

h i s s i l e n c e of f o r t y years" a f t e r the p u b l i c a t i o n

Ballads.

"laboured

optimism

and s u p e r f i c i a l

This

common

poetry:

attitude

theme,

experimentation
and

matrix

make

with

Swinburne

diction,

style

itself
and

o f Poems &
against the

(Gosse

on a l l l e v e l s
technique,

and

273-4).
of t h e i r
involves

and p o e t i c r e v i s i o n i s m , but w i t h i n t h e framework

of t r a d i t i o n .

break

at a revolution

sweetness o f h i s age"

manifests

between

educations,

intellectual

concerns and p o e t r y i t s e l f demonstrate t h a t c l e a r l y .

T h e i r shared

aesthetic

with

N e i t h e r Hardy nor Swinburne wished t o

tradition:

i n v o l v e d t h e ardent

their

pursuit

o f honesty

and freedom o f

e x p r e s s i o n , but always w i t h a t t e n t i o n t o t h e r u l e s governing p o e t i c

form.

However, they both wished t o c h a l l e n g e accepted

accepted

poetic practices.

demonstrates a tendency

The e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n

to resist

i d e a s and

i n their

poetry

complacency.

While t h i s adherence t o t r a d i t i o n and r e s i s t a n c e o f convention

may seem i n i t i a l l y t o be a c o n t r a d i c t i o n ,

i n fact

i t i s not.

s h a l l argue t h a t what Hardy saw i n Swinburne's p o e t r y i n London i n

the 1860s was a combination which p a r t i c u l a r l y appealed t o him and
i n s p i r e d him: a c h a l l e n g e o f c o n v e n t i o n a l p o e t i c p r a c t i c e s w i t h an
accompanying r e s p e c t f o r t h e laws and t r a d i t i o n s governing E n g l i s h
verse.

And, w h i l e

Swinburne's work c e r t a i n l y

was not t h e o n l y

i n t e l l e c t u a l i n s p i r a t i o n i n the development of Hardy's p o e t r y , h i s

was an important f o r c e , both a t the time Hardy f i r s t read h i s poems
and throughout Hardy's p o e t i c c a r e e r .

II.
Gosse's a r t i c l e

of

1918

maintains

t h a t Swinburne and

Hardy

"approached the a r t from an o p p o s i t e d i r e c t i o n , " which i s perhaps

a r e f e r e n c e t o the

f a c t t h a t they were t r a i n e d

t h e i r work as poets
t h a t he was

"so

late

w h i l e Swinburne "was
16)

is

i n very d i f f e r e n t ways.

prepared

for

Hardy's o b s e r v a t i o n

i n g e t t i n g [ h i s ] p o e t i c a l barge under
so e a r l y w i t h h i s f l o t i l l a "

r e v e a l i n g metaphor

background and

and

for

their

e d u c a t i o n which prepared

(Letters

careers,

them.

and

way"
vol.4

for

the

Hardy's c h o i c e of

the metaphor of " f l o t i l l a " f o r Swinburne i n d i c a t e s h i s r e c o g n i t i o n

of

the

latter's

manifold

d e c i d e l y flamboyant
education

and

utilitarian
aristocratic

career.

slow r i s e

nature
family

abilities,

of

to

'regal'

preparations

and

By comparison, Hardy's more d e l i b e r a t e

fame are

"barge."

o f f e r e d him

analogous t o the
Swinburne's

life

of

plodding,

birth

privilege,

into

an

economic

s e c u r i t y and s o c i a l s t a t u s ; Hardy's a r r i v a l i n a cramped c o t t a g e i n

rural

Dorset

initially

determined

for

him

h o r i z o n both f i n a n c i a l l y and c u l t u r a l l y .
t h e two

p o e t s ' c h i l d h o o d s , we

f a r more

limited

When we r e a d accounts

of

are s t r u c k by the i n e v i t a b i l i t y

of

Swinburne's r i s e t o fame, and the i n c r e d i b i l i t y of Hardy's.

Very

l i t t l e about t h e i r e a r l y years p r e d i c t s t h a t they would one day

i n London a t the same time, and e v e n t u a l l y develop

be

a sympathy f o r

and a d m i r a t i o n of each o t h e r ' s work.

Hardy

arrived

in

London

in

April

1862

to

work

as

an

a r c h i t e c t u r a l a s s i s t a n t , the same year i n which Swinburne began t o

10
compose many of

the

poems which would

B a l l a d s (Lafourcade 96 f f . ) .
evolved

from m a t e r i a l and

Millgate

74-101) and

methodical,

appear

i n Poems &

Between 1862-65, Hardy's g o a l s s l o w l y

social

to l i t e r a r y

i t i s c l e a r t h a t by

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s and

t h i s time, he purchased
and

later

and

1865,

emotional

he had

life-long training

N u t t a l l ' s Standard

begun h i s

as a poet.

Pronouncing

Walker's Rhyming D i c t i o n a r y , s t u d i e d The

(see

At

Dictionary

Golden T r e a s u r y

and

r e a d p o e t r y from Shakespeare t o Tennyson, s i g n a l l i n g h i s u l t i m a t e

goal

t o combine,

poetry

i f p o s s i b l e , the m i n i s t r y w i t h

( M i l l g a t e 96).

( M i l l g a t e 87).

E a r l y L i f e t h a t he cared f o r l i f e

as an

of

w r i t i n g of

He a l s o began keeping a notebook on p o e t r y ,

e n t i t l e d " S t u d i e s , Specimens &c."

rejection

the

purely

material

c o n t i n u e d t o work d i l i g e n t l y

and

H i s comments i n

"emotion"

social

(70)

success;

reflect

although

as an a r c h i t e c t , Hardy had

a
he

begun t o

prepare h i m s e l f m e n t a l l y and e m o t i o n a l l y f o r the l i f e of a poet.

It

i s important

interest

in

encountered
Ballads

poetry

to

note

were

that

well

Swinburne's A t a l a n t a

i n 1866.

Hardy' s

underway

before

i n Calydon

D e s p i t e the r e l a t i v e

preparation
he

i n 1865

t a r d i n e s s and

for

could
or

and
have

Poems &

poverty

of

Hardy's e d u c a t i o n as compared t o t h a t of Swinburne, he would have

been prepared
and

rich

enough t o note and

cultural

publication

of

a p p r e c i a t e the p r o s o d i c

t e x t u r e of Swinburne's work.

his

first

volume

of

poetry

devices

Hardy's b e l a t e d
can

lead

to

m i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of h i s development as a poet, and of Swinburne's

r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h him.
Hardy was

a poet who

As Gosse p o i n t e d out i n h i s 1918

laboured w i t h Swinburne, who

article,

would have seen

11
Poems & B a l l a d s as a contemporary example o f prosody's p o t e n t i a l .

Hardy

may have

first

learned

o f Swinburne's work w i t h t h e

p u b l i c a t i o n o f A t a l a n t a i n Calydon i n March 1865.

was
have

a literary
been

less

resembling

like

Unbound

which

T h i s "modern" Greek tragedy c o u l d not

The I d y l l s

i t had

Prometheus
quality

sensation.

been

Its publication

of t h e Kino;;

written

n o t h i n g remotely

i n English

since

Shelley's

(Henderson 106), and i t s choruses possessed a

neither

Tennyson

nor Browning

displayed:

speed.

These "new words i n c l a s s i c g u i s e " must have c a p t i v a t e d Hardy as

they d i d most o f l i t e r a r y
In

that

same year,

London.
Hardy

copied

a revealing

passage

from

Newman's A p o l o g i a :
The

truth

was,

intellectual
drifting

was

beginning

excellence

to

i n the d i r e c t i o n

to

moral;
of

prefer
I

was

liberalism,

(quoted i n L i t e r a r y Notebooks v o l . 1 8)
In another note on Newman which was omitted from E a r l y L i f e .
revealed

even

more

clearly

h i s developing

agnosticism:

he

"Poor

Newman! H i s g e n t l e c h i l d i s h f a i t h i n r e v e l a t i o n and t r a d i t i o n must

have

made

him a v e r y

Notebooks 218).
developing
established

charming

character"

(quoted

i n Personal

Hardy's d i s t i n c t l y p a t r o n i z i n g tone i n d i c a t e s a

skeptical

attitude

practices.

The

toward
1860s

religious
were

faith

"decisive

and o t h e r
stage i n

T h i s and many other passages which Hardy intended t o be

i n c l u d e d were omitted by F l o r e n c e Hardy i n h e r v e r s i o n o f t h e L i f e
p u b l i s h e d as E a r l y L i f e and L a t e r Years.
2

12
philosophy

and episteraology, i n p h i l o l o g y and prosody" and these

developments
stage"

"profoundly

(Taylor x v i i ) ,

impressed

Hardy's

mind

at a

formative

I n t h i s s t a t e o f mind, he would have been

a t t r a c t e d on t h e one hand t o t h e u n d i s g u i s e d neo-paganism and, on

the o t h e r , t h e p r o s o d i c experimentation
be

profoundly

published

affected

i n 1866.

by

Hardy's

Poems

&

church

of Atalanta.
Ballads,

attendance

He stood t o

which

Swinburne

had been

on t h e

d e c l i n e s i n c e t h e summer o f 1864, h i s s e l f - i m p o s e d study o f E n g l i s h

poetry

and c l a s s i c a l

inclined to exalt

languages

was

well

underway,

and he was

"the m e r i t s and r e p u t a t i o n s o f poets

f a r above

those o f mere n o v e l i s t s " i n t h e l i t t l e l i t e r a r y l e c t u r e s he gave t o

the

other

people

( M i l l g a t e 92).

i n the a r c h i t e c t u r e o f f i c e

a t about t h i s

time

Hardy h i m s e l f quotes from a j o u r n a l e n t r y from t h e

1860s:
A sense o f t h e t r u t h of poetry, of i t s supreme
place
me.

i n literature,
At the r i s k

had awakened

of r u i n i n g

itself in

a l l my

worldly

p r o s p e c t s I dabbled i n it....was f o r c e d out o f

it... it

came back upon me.... A l l

nature

of

foresight,

being
or

l e d by

regard

to

was o f t h e

mood,

whither

without
i t

led.

( L a t e r Years 185)
This

passage

uses

t h e language

of t h e o l o g i c a l

revelation

to

d e s c r i b e a " c o n v e r s i o n " t o a very unusual r e l i g i o n , t h a t o f p o e t r y .

Unless otherwise i n d i c a t e d , t h i s and a l l subsequent e n t r i e s

c i t e d as " T a y l o r " r e f e r t o Hardy's Metres and V i c t o r i a n Prosody.
3

13
I t was w i t h t h i s c o n v i c t i o n about t h e importance
would encounter
Poems

o f p o e t r y t h a t he

Poems & B a l l a d s .

& B a l l a d s was p u b l i s h e d

i n August

1866.

The t h i r d

s t a n z a o f "A S i n g e r A s l e e p " suggests t h a t Hardy read i t immediately

upon i t s appearance, perhaps i n s p i r e d t o do so when he came a c r o s s
the s c a t h i n g review by John Morley i n Saturday Review, a p e r i o d i c a l
to

which Horace Moule had i n t r o d u c e d Hardy w h i l e he was s t i l l i n

Dorchester.
scold

Mr.

In h i s review, Morley says t h a t " i t i s o f no use...to

Swinburne

for grovelling
which

inspire

down
him

among
with

the
such

nameless

shameless

abominations

frenzied

delight."

He c r e d i t s Swinburne's courage f o r a s k i n g h i s r e a d e r s t o

"go hear him t u n i n g h i s l y r e i n a s t y e " and condemns him f o r "the

mixture

of v i l e n e s s

and c h i l d i s h n e s s o f d e p i c t i n g

passion of a putrescent
C r i t i c a l Heritage).

imagination"

(quoted

the spurious

i n Swinburne: The

Undoubtedly, what would have c a p t i v a t e d Hardy i n i t i a l l y about

Poems & B a l l a d s was t h e "gesture on b e h a l f of freedom"

represented

by t h e e r o t i c and s p u r i o u s contents of t h e volume, a g e s t u r e which

made Swinburne an i n s p i r a t i o n and a k i n d of prophet t o many young
men o f t h e age.
the

In mid-century,

poets were g e n e r a l l y regarded as

most e l e v a t e d and s e r i o u s k i n d o f w r i t e r ,

entertainers,

guides

or moral

leaders

useful

(Heyck 41) ;

e i t h e r as

the a r t i s t i c

freedoms r e p r e s e n t e d i n t h e p a s s i o n a t e and h i g h l y charged pages o f

I r o n i c a l l y , i t was Morley who a d v i s e d Hardy t o i g n o r e t h e

" f o o l e r i e s o f c r i t i c s " ( M i l l g a t e 231).
Moreover, Swinburne's
p o e t r y was p u b l i s h e d by t h e F o r t n i g h t l y Review from 1862-75, some
of i t d u r i n g Morley's tenure as e d i t o r , from 1867-82.
4

14
Poems & B a l l a d s were not g u i d i n g or m o r a l i z i n g i n a way
have p l e a s e d Mrs.
of

the

poet

as

Grundy.
moral

Accurately r e f l e c t i n g t h i s

leader,

John

Morley's

t h a t would
expectation

review

of

Poems

B a l l a d s i n the Saturday Review p o i n t e d out t h a t Swinburne p a i d

" a t t e n t i o n t o c r i t i c a l monitions as t o the duty of the poet"
was

&
no

and

" f i r m l y and avowedly f i x e d i n an a t t i t u d e of r e v o l t a g a i n s t the

current

notions

Critical

of

decency

Heritage).

and

d i g n i t y and

Swinburne's

social

blasphemous

duty"

(Hyder

metaphors,

frank

d i s p l a y s of c a r n a l p l e a s u r e and t r e a t i s e s on l e s b i a n l o v e h o r r i f i e d
reviewers

and

intellectuals.
demonstrated

drawing
His

not,

as

immmediately
advises

disregard

defiance

p u b l i c l y acceptable
could

rooms

he

prior

of

ideas

f o r the

the

the

in

but

delighted

volume's

liberal

d i d a c t i c r o l e of the

market-dependent

(Heyck 42)

insisted
to

alike,

and

s e t him

letter

to

production

of

a p a r t as one

who

Lady

p u b l i c a t i o n , do

Trevelyan
"as

Hamlet

[and] betake [ h i m s e l f ] 'to a nunnery'" ( L e t t e r s v o l . 1

Swinburne's r e a c t i o n t o suggestions

t h a t he bowdlerize

suppress passages or poems before p u b l i c a t i o n was

poet

141).

or even

defiant.

Prior

t o the volume's p u b l i c a t i o n , he had w r i t t e n t o Lord L y t t o n t h a t t o

s u r p r e s s some of the more c o n t r o v e r s i a l s e c t i o n s would i n j u r e "the
whole s t r u c t u r e of the book, where every p a r t has been as c a r e f u l l y
considered

and

arranged as

I c o u l d manage"

(Letters vol.1

172).

While many other poets of the time allowed t h e i r ideas t o be guided

by the market power of the r e a d i n g p u b l i c and

by p u b l i c V i c t o r i a n

morality

this

and

compromise and

values,

Swinburne

rejected

seemed t o be resuming the posture

readiness

to

of an h e r o i c poet

taken e a r l i e r by many o f h i s Romantic p r e d e c e s s o r s .

He a s s e r t e d t o

W i l l i a m R o s s e t t i a f t e r t h e volume's p u b l i c a t i o n t h a t " i t i s r e a l l y
very

odd t h a t

people. . . w i l l

not l e t one be an a r t i s t ,

but must

needs make one out t o be a parson o r a pimp" ( L e t t e r s v o l . 1 193).

With

the p u b l i c a t i o n

of

Poems

&

Ballads,

the

i n i t i a t i v e u n q u e s t i o n a b l y passed t o a new g e n e r a t i o n
which Swinburne was t h e pre-eminent r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
a c t i n g as "a symbol o f g e n t e e l

r e b e l l i o n " (111).

o f poets, o f
(Thomas 110),

He appealed t o

Hardy a t a time when Hardy "was i n a r e s t l e s s mood, f u l l

and

ideas but d e s p a i r i n g o f t h e i r r e a l i z a t i o n "

literary

o f hopes

( M i l l g a t e 95).

L i k e S h e l l e y , whom Hardy so admired, Swinburne r e b e l l e d t h o r o u g h l y

and

courageously; such a d e f i a n t g e s t u r e f o r t h e sake o f a r t i s t i c

freedom was not missed by Hardy, as h i s d e s c r i p t i o n o f r e a d i n g w i t h

"quick,

glad surprise" implies.

Although i t may be t r u e t h a t t h e

i n f l u e n c e o f Swinburne was more emotional than i n t e l l e c t u a l , t h e

a n t i - C h r i s t i a n and H e l l e n i c ideas
p r o b a b l y r e s o n a t e d as w e l l

i n Atalanta

and Poems & B a l l a d s

(Bjork i n Page, ed. 106). In a d d i t i o n ,

as Dennis T a y l o r ' s study has r e c e n t l y shown, Hardy t h e t e c h n i c i a n

did

not miss

displayed

the r i c h

i n both

and complex

volumes.

array

Saintsbury

o f new

describes

verse

forms

Swinburne as

e x h i b i t i n g i n Poems & B a l l a d s "every s l e i g h t of hand o f t h e E n g l i s h

poet" i n h i s use o f equivalence,
and

line.

His f i r s t

and

individuality

s u b s t i t u t i o n , stanza

volume of poetry

of construction

construction

a l s o demonstrated a v a r i e t y

which was almost

bewildering,

though every one o f them responds, w i t h utmost accuracy,

laws and s p e c i f i c a t i o n s of E n g l i s h prosody

( H i s t o r y 342).

to the

16
Yet Swinburne's v e r s e e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n was
I t came a t a time when i n t e r e s t

not u n a n t i c i p a t e d .

i n p o e t i c form was

on the

rise.

The number of a r t i c l e s and books p u b l i s h e d on metre doubled i n t e n

years,

from

21

i n the

1850s

to

41

i n the

1860s

( T a y l o r 20) .

R e l a t e d t o t h i s growing i n t e r e s t i n E n g l i s h prosody was

a revival

of i m i t a t i o n of c l a s s i c a l metres i n E n g l i s h , the most s i g n i f i c a n t

upsurge

since

variety

of

the

s i x t e e n t h century

m e t r i c a l forms,

( T a y l o r 56-7).

rhyme schemes and

The

rhythmic

rich

patterns

c o n t a i n e d i n Poems & B a l l a d s r e f l e c t e d t h i s r e n a i s s a n c e i n prosody

and

offered

an example and

inspiration

t o any

reader who

looked

beyond i t s c o n t r o v e r s i a l content t o i t s techhnique.

J u s t as Swinburne's e a r l y v e r s e o f f e r e d Hardy an example of
a r t i s t i c l i b e r t y and freedom of e x p r e s s i o n , i t a l s o educated him i n
the

technical

classical
striking

and

possibilities
modern.

evidence

conventional

of

freedom

Although

t h a t he was

v e r s e models and

within

Hardy's

tradition,

earliest

poems

both
offer

i n t e n t on a s s o c i a t i n g h i m s e l f w i t h
thus,

exercising

"an

almost

manic

degree of formal c o n t r o l and t e c h n i c a l f i r m n e s s " (Morgan 1), he d i d

not c o n t i n u e t o m a i n t a i n such r i g i d and u n i m a g i n a t i v e c o n t r o l over
the shape of h i s v e r s e .

Ross M u r f i n has r e c e n t l y observed

the poems Hardy composed i n 1865-67 "are c l e a r l y

that

Swinburnian...in

t h e i r o b s e s s i v e l y p r e c i s e m e t r i c a l , or more p r e c i s e l y d i a m e t r i c a l ,
sound p a t t e r n s . . . i n t h e i r
does

not

Murfin's
work on

elaborate

Sapphic

further,

or

stanza
provide

forms..."
any

(83), but

specific

comments are r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of the p a u c i t y of

Hardy which d i s c u s s e s the

development

of h i s

he

analysis.
critical
technique

17
a c c u r a t e l y and c o n c r e t e l y .
Hardy's

poetry

would

In f a c t , t h e ' o b s e s s i v e ' p r e c i s i o n o f

have

been

i n greater

part

due

to his

r e p l i c a t i o n o f proven forms such as t h e sonnet than t o Swinburne's

i n f l u e n c e , s i n c e Swinburne's p o e t r y e x h i b i t s n e i t h e r
precise"

nor " d i a m e t r i c a l "

sound

patterns.

"obsessively

In a d d i t i o n ,

the

Sapphic s t a n z a forms, examples o f which Hardy may w e l l have found

i n Poems & B a l l a d s ,
Hardy's

stamp

are not a t a l l l i k e

of o r i g i n a l i t y

Swinburne's;

and i n d i c a t e

that

they

Hardy's

carry

work on

c l a s s i c a l forms was p a r t o f a l a r g e r p o e t i c a l movement, not j u s t a

r e p l i c a t i o n of Swinburne.
More t o t h e p o i n t , t h e experiments, c h a l l e n g e s and i n n o v a t i o n s
in

prosody

encouraged

conducted

by

Hardy t o pursue

Swinburne

i n the

some o f h i s own.

1860s

might

Rather than

have
merely

a s s i m i l a t i n g Swinburne's technique, Hardy took i n s p i r a t i o n from h i s

p o e t i c companion's l i b e r a l and ambitious a t t i t u d e toward

prosody.

L i k e Swinburne, Hardy d e s i r e d t o apply t h e p r i n c i p l e o f l i b e r t y t o

prosody.

While they took very d i f f e r e n t paths t o London, and d i d

not meet i n t h e i r y o u t h f u l days t h e r e , t h e two poets c r o s s e d paths

intellectually

and p o e t i c a l l y ;

e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n and development

f o r both t h e 1860s were y e a r s of

which

s e t t h e tone f o r l i f e - l o n g

i n t e r e s t i n p o e t i c form, and helped them form t h e c o n v i c t i o n t h a t

E n g l i s h prosody had l i m i t l e s s p o s s i b i l i t i e s .
Ballads.

L o r d L y t t o n wrote

t o Bulwer

diction

and m a s t e r p i e c e of c r a f t

dazzled

me,

that

Of

Lytton that

&

"the beauty o f

i n melodies r e a l l y

I d i d not see t h e naughtiness

Poems

a t f i r s t so
till

pointed

out....1 s u s p e c t he would be a dangerous companion t o another poet"

18
(The L i f e o f Edward Bulwer v o l . 2 437). L y t t o n was c o r r e c t i n h i s
observation

o f another

f i l l e d with r i s k :

poet s
1

relationship

with

Swinburne

being

i t would be easy f o r a weak poet t o i m i t a t e him

w i t h d i s a s t r o u s r e s u l t s ; Swinburne's own s e l f - p a r o d y i s proof o f

this potential.
worthwhile
creative

F o r a s t r o n g poet, however, t h e r i s k i n v o l v e d was

and Swinburne's example and companionship o f f e r e d much

inspiration.

Swinburne's

work

enormous and e x c i t i n g c h a l l e n g e s i n prosody.

of

Swinburne's e f f o r t s ,

about

for a

lifetime

this

presented

with

In p a r t , as a r e s u l t

decade gave Hardy

( T a y l o r , Hardy's

Hardy

Poetry

enough t o t h i n k
xviii),

and t h e

companionship he f e l t w i t h Swinburne, although i t was i n i t s e a r l y

s t a g e s one-sided,

o f f e r e d Hardy enduring p o e t i c sustenance.

The parody, e n t i t l e d " N e p h e l i d i a , " was p u b l i s h e d a l o n g w i t h

h i s o t h e r p a r o d i e s o f contemporary poets i n The Heptalocria or t h e
Seven A g a i n s t S i n . I t begins:
5

From

t h e depth o f t h e dreamy d e c l i n e o f t h e dawn through a

n o t a b l e nimbus o f nebulous noonshine
P a l l i d and p i n k as t h e palm o f t h e f l a g - f l o w e r t h a t f l i c k e r s w i t h
f e a r o f t h e f l i e s as they f l o a t ,
Are they l o o k s o f our l o v e r s t h a t l u s t r o u s l y l e a n from a marvel
of m y s t i c m i r a c u l o u s moonshine,
These t h a t we f e e l i n t h e blood of our blushes t h a t t h i c k e n and
t h r e a t e n w i t h t h r o b s through t h e t h r o a t ?

19

III.
Hardy's f a s c i n a t i o n w i t h p o e t i c
v a r i e t y o f forms he employed.

form i s e v i d e n t

i n the r i c h

Of t h e 1093 e x t a n t poems, Hardy used

over 790 d i f f e r e n t m e t r i c a l forms (that i s , forms d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e

by

rhyme

scheme and t h e number

of a c c e n t s / l i n e ,

d i f f e r e n t s t a n z a forms w i t h i n the same poem).

half

imitated

numbers

170 d i f f e r e n t e s t a b l i s h e d

indicate

that

Hardy

was

not i n c l u d i n g

Of these, f u l l y one

forms ( T a y l o r 71).

fascinated

by

the

Such

metrical

successes o f o t h e r poets, and had no d i f f i c u l t y c o - o p t i n g forms f o r

his

own

use.

While t h e f a c t t h a t

Hardy

imitated

forms

i s not

unusual, t h e number and scope o f h i s i m i t a t i o n s i s , f o r he chose t o

reproduce

not o n l y

established,

traditional

forms

such

as t h e

S p e n s e r i a n s t a n z a , the sonnet or t h e b a l l a d , but a l s o more obscure

and i n d i v i d u a l ones.

He kept " q u a n t i t i e s o f notes on rhythm and

metre," i n c l u d i n g " o u t l i n e s and experiments i n innumerable o r i g i n a l

measures."
skeletons"

Hardy

c a l l e d these

experiments and o u t l i n e s

( L a t e r Years 79-80), although h i s e x p l a n a t i o n

"verse

does not

suggest t h a t many o f these " o r i g i n a l " forms were adapted from those
of o t h e r poets ( T a y l o r passim).
Of t h e 170 forms Hardy
Swinburne.

used as models,

s i x originate

with

They p r o v i d e t a n g i b l e evidence o f Hardy's i n t e r e s t i n

Swinburne's

prosodic

demonstrate

clearly

experiments.
that

Hardy

These

admired

metrical

and was

borrowings

interested i n

Swinburne's t e c h n i q u e .

The poems he chose t o work w i t h were not

traditional

accepted

and w i d e l y

forms which he f e l t

bound as a

20
learned

poet

to

reproduce,

but

s u b v e r s i o n s of t h o s e t r a d i t i o n a l

were

alterations

or

even

forms.

Four of t h e s i x m e t r i c a l forms Hardy borrowed a r e q u a t r a i n s ,

the

most f r e q u e n t l y employed stanza form i n E n g l i s h v e r s i f i c a t i o n .

Swinburne

altered

both

line

length

and

metre

o r i g i n a l v a r i a t i o n s of the t r a d i t i o n a l form.

to

create

these

Two of the poems, "An

I n t e r l u d e " and "In Memory of Walter Savage Landor" appeared i n t h e

1866 e d i t i o n of Poems & B a l l a d s and are marked by Hardy i n h i s 1873
edition

(Taylor

223,

Ballads

(Second S e r i e s ) ,

M a z z i n i " appeared

224).

"A

and

Wasted

Vigil"

i s from

Poems &

" L i n e s on the Monument of

Giuseppe

i n A Midsummer H o l i d a y

Hardy owned i n the t h i r d e d i t i o n

(1904).

and

o t h e r Poems, which

Swinburne's

experiments

w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l forms, and Hardy's i n t e r e s t i n t h e s e experiments,

span many decades.
"An

Interlude"

anapaests.
"common

alters

I t employs

measure"

the

hymn

the

standard

standard rhyme

form,

yet

anapaests conveys

skip

lightly,

a lighthearted

a movement p a r t i c u l a r l y

d e s c r i p t i o n o f an i d y l l i c

quatrain

scheme

complicates

a l t e r n a t i n g masculine w i t h feminine rhyme.

and

iambic

found

that

with

i n the

scheme

by

The mixture o f iambs

tone, c r e a t i n g

lines

which

a p p r o p r i a t e t o the poem's

encounter between two

lovers:

See W i l l i a m Morgan, "The Novel as R i s k and Compromise, P o e t r y

as Safe Haven: Hardy and the V i c t o r i a n Reading P u b l i c ; 1863-1901."
In t h e essay, Morgan i d e n t i f i e s Hardy's " i n t e n t i o n t o a s s o c i a t e
h i m s e l f w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l p o e t i c a u t h o r i t y " by r e p r o d u c i n g numbers
of f i x e d - f o r m , s t r o p h i c poems, e s p e c i a l l y sonnets, making " p l a i n
h i s l o y a l t y t o Shakespeare, Spenser, Donne, Wordsworth, Keats, and
o t h e r masters of the forms he had chosen" (1).
6

Your f e e t i n t h e f u l l - g r o w n g r a s s e s
1

K.

Moved s o f t as a weak wind blows;

x
i
x X
i x
i x
You passed me as A p r i l passes,
I

>

With f a c e made out o f a r o s e . (11. 12-16)

Hardy echoes t h e form

o f "An I n t e r l u d e " i n two poems, "The

F i d d l e r " and "The O l d Neighbour and t h e New."

triple

In the f i r s t , the

rhythm w i t h f r e e duple s u b s t i t u t i o n s r e i n f o r c e s t h e sound

and sense o f t h e f i d d l e r i n much t h e same way t h a t "An I n t e r l u d e "

conveys t h e l i g h t s t e p of two l o v e r s .
iambs predominating

over anapaests,

The f i r s t s t a n z a begins w i t h
as t h e f i d d l e r w a i t s t o begin

playing:
X

The f i d d l e r knows what's

To t h e h i l t
*

The

brewing

of h i s l y r i c w i l e s
I

f i d d l e r knows what r u i n g
i

And,

>

W i l l come o f t h i s n i g h t ' s s m i l e s ! (11. 1-4)

as t h e f i d d l e r begins t o p l a y , t h e poem modulates t o t h e

t r i p l e rhythm and t h e pace quickens:

x x
i
x
i
x x
i x
He sees couples j o i n them f o r dancing,
X
I
X
X
I
X
x
I
And a f t e r w a r d s j o i n i n g f o r l i f e ,
X

He sees them pay h i g h f o r t h e i r p r a n c i n g

x x I K
x
i
x
I
By a w e l t e r o f wedded s t r i f e .
"The

(11. 5-8)

F i d d l e r " i s one of many examples o f Hardy's

sensitivity

t o sound and meaning i n t h e composition o f p o e t r y , and i t suggests

that

his replication

of a c e r t a i n

form

could

a p p r o p r i a t e t o t h e s u b j e c t matter o f t h e poem.

be

intrinsically

He has accomplished

a m e t r i c a l experiment and a s u c c e s s f u l a r t i s t i c r e n d e r i n g i n a poem

which b a l a n c e s an i n t e r e s t i n form w i t h c o n t e n t .
But Hardy was not always so s u c c e s s f u l , as i s demonstrated by
his

a d a p t a t i o n o f t h e a n a p a e s t i c t r i m e t e r o f "An I n t e r l u d e " i n "The

Old Neighbour and t h e New" ( T a y l o r 223) , which a l t e r n a t e s masculine

and

f e m i n i n e double rhyme.

many

poems

t h e use

of

Samuel Hynes has p o i n t e d

one

meter

rather

than

out t h a t " i n

another

seems

a d v e n t i t i o u s and o f t e n t h e meter chosen i s p a t e n t l y u n s u i t a b l e t o

the m a t e r i a l "
criticism.

(6).

"The O l d Neighbour and t h e New" bears out t h i s

The b r i e f but poignant r e m i n i s c e n c e o f an o l d neighbour

i n c o n t r a s t t o a new one i s t o o n o s t a l g i c and r e f l e c t i v e a s u b j e c t

to s u i t the l e v i t y of the m e t r i c a l pattern:
x
x x
i x
J
X
|
The newcomer urges t h i n g s on me;
x x J x x
i
x
i
I r e t u r n a vague smile t h e r e t o ,
x
i x
<
i x x i x
The olden f a c e gazing upon me

x x i
x i
J u s t as i t used t o do. (1. 9-12)
Here,

Hardy's use of t h e m e t r i c a l

pattern

o f "An I n t e r l u d e " i s

" a d v e n t i t i o u s " and t h e poem's composition suggests t h a t metre c o u l d

fascinate

him

so

considerations.

of

iambic

that

he

neglected

A s i d e from t h e n o v e l t y

subsitutions

substitution

offered greater

substitution

also

allowed

may

have

metrical

subtle

aesthetic

o f t h e form, t h e f r e e

appealed

because

flexibility.

but a d r o i t

pace, even w i t h i n t h e narrow c o n f i n e s

four-line

other

What must have a t t r a c t e d Hardy t o t h e a n a p a e s t i c

trimeter quatrain?
use

much

shifts

of a three-foot

This

such

use of

i n tone and
l i n e and a

stanza.

The remaining q u a t r a i n forms which Hardy chose t o i m i t a t e a l l

23
work i n one way

or another w i t h the concept of a shortened

In "In Memory of Walter Savage Landor,"

Swinburne has

line.

alternated

t e t r a m e t e r w i t h dimeter, w h i l e p r e s e r v i n g the s t a n d a r d a l t e r n a t i n g
rhyme scheme, a p a t t e r n which Hardy matches i n "A King's S o l i l o q u y "
and "The O c c u l t a t i o n "

( T a y l o r 224) .

The a l t e r n a t i o n between l o n g

and s h o r t l i n e i s even more pronounced

i n " L i n e s on the Monument of

Guiseppe M a z z i n i " where Swinburne juxtaposes a pentameter

l i n e with

a dimeter, a p a t t e r n Hardy employs i n "Former B e a u t i e s "

228) .

(Taylor

Both of Swinburne's experiments can be seen as v a r i a n t s of

t h e s t a n d a r d 4-3-4-3 hymn s t a n z a .

The shortened second and

fourth

l i n e s d r a m a t i c a l l y a l t e r the v i s u a l shape of the s t a n z a , an e f f e c t

which would have appealed t o Hardy, who
the v i s u a l impact of a s t a n z a .
The

shortened l i n e

always

took

into

account

i s also

found

i n the two

other poems by

Swinburne whose form Hardy employed, " F e l i s e " and " D o l o r e s . "
poems appeared

i n Poems & B a l l a d s . F i r s t S e r i e s , and are marked by

Hardy i n h i s 1873
a

quintet

two-foot

edition

i n duple

duple-triple

rising

line,

rising

( T a y l o r 236,
rhythm

and

248).

line

While " F e l i s e " i s

" D o l o r e s " i s an

rhythm, both poems c l o s e each

an

innovation

which

e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y i n h i s H i s t o r y of E n g l i s h
The

Both

once

breaks

the

in

stanza with a

Saintsbury

praised

Prosody:

i s o l a t i o n or i n d i v i d u a l i s i n g of the
at

octet

final

monotony...[ I t ]

Although never acknowledged by Hardy, h i s concern w i t h the

v i s u a l impact of a s t a n z a must have been r e l a t e d t o h i s t r a i n i n g as
an a r c h i t e c t . He does make the c o n n e c t i o n between a r c h i t e c t u r e and
h i s penchant f o r cunning i r r e g u l a r i t y i n L a t e r Years, see below pp.
65-66.
7

24
reminds you t h a t
stanza,

you a r e a t t h e end o f one

and i t prepares you f o r t h e next.

(vol.3 345)
And,

f u r t h e r d i s p e l l i n g monotony, both o f these experiments depend

on t h e f r e e exchange o f duple and t r i p l e rhythms.

I t i s perhaps

the exchange o f these rhythms which c r e a t e s t h e h y p n o t i c

and

u n c o i l i n g " s t a n z a s which Samuel Chew d e s c r i b e s

gyrations

[seeming] never t o g e t anywhere" (91).

"coiling

as "moving i n

T h e i r appearance

i n 1866 was r e v o l u t i o n a r y .
The

e i g h t - l i n e stanza

o f "Dolores"

which both S a i n t s b u r y and

Chew p r a i s e h i g h l y f o r i t s o r i g i n a l i t y and e f f e c t i s - l i k e t h a t o f
"An

Interlude"

had

i t s o r i g i n i n the eighteenth

of

Byron's

based on t h e a n a p a e s t i c

and Shenstone's

(Saintsbury,
shortening

v o l . 3 96) .

verse

new l i f e

three-foot

anapaest"

By f r e e l y s u b s t i t u t i n g duple rhythms and

t h e f i n a l , e i g h t h l i n e , Swinburne t r a n s f o r m s t h e e f f e c t

n o t i c e o f Hardy.

energizing

a form which

with the " r i c k e t y j i n g l e

and Cowper's

of t h e metre, a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n

blank

century

trimeter,

Amidst t h e s t o l i d

o f Tennyson,
in its ability

i n t o prosody.

Hardy uses

which c o u l d

this

such

not have escaped t h e

and by t h a t time p r e d i c t a b l e

experimentation

was e x c i t i n g and

to alter traditional

forms and breathe

e i g h t - l i n e stanza

i n "The Strange

House."

An a r t i c l e from The Spectator w r i t t e n immediately f o l l o w i n g

Swinburne's death i n 1909 payed t r i b u t e t o h i s power o f a d a p t a t i o n
of e s t a b l i s h e d m e t r i c a l p a t t e r n s :
"A commoner example o f t h i s
power o f a d a p t a t i o n i s , of course, t o be found i n t h e "Dolores"
measure. Mr. Swinburne saw t h a t t h e anapaests Praed had used f o r
humourous v e r s e and drawing-room s a t i r e might e a s i l y be employed
f o r serious poetry."
8

While t h e b a s i c m e t r i c a l s t r u c t u r e i s i d e n t i c a l ,

a comparison o f

the

o f these

two poems demonstrates

the d i s t i n c t

styles

poets.

Hardy t r a n s f e r s none o f t h e heated p a s s i o n and t o r t u o u s e x p r e s s i o n

of

Swinburne's poem about "the s e n s u a l i t i e s o f a man f o i l e d i n l o v e

and weary o f l o v i n g "

(Chew 91); h i s poem d e s c r i b e s Max Gate i n AD

2000, when t h e house i s i n h a b i t e d by ghosts of t h e p a s t ,

Hardy and Emma.

presumably

Nor does he employ t h e d i g n i f i e d and commanding

d i c t i o n of "Dolores."

The poem i s a d i a l o g u e between people who

may be l i v i n g a t Max Gate i n t h e next m i l l e n n i u m .

Although t h e poem does operate w i t h i n t h e b a s i c s t r u c t u r e o f
Swinburne's
rhythms

metrical

pattern,

employs

fewer

( T a y l o r 248), e l i m i n a t i n g some o f t h e speed

present i n "Dolores."
"The

Hardy

In a d d i t i o n , the f i r s t

trisyllabic
and movement

f o o t i n each l i n e o f

Strange House" i s iambic, w h i l e Swinburne's i n i t i a l

e i t h e r iambic o r a n a p a e s t i c .
s t r u c t u r e taken

from

feet are

Hardy's a l t e r a t i o n s w i t h i n t h e b a s i c

Swinburne s u i t

the c o l l o q u i a l

tone

o f "The

Strange House"; c o n v e r s a t i o n i n t r i p l e rhythms would not r e f l e c t as

realistically

t h e predominantly

iambic rhythms o f c o n v e r s a t i o n a l

English.
In
iambic

"At C a s t l e
tetrameter

subsititution

Boterel,"
of

Hardy

"Felise"

and a l t e r n a t i n g

by

adapts

Swinburne's

including

masculine

with

more

five-line

trisyllabic

feminine

rhyme.

Hardy's v e r s i o n s of t h e m e t r i c a l p a t t e r n s of " D o l o r e s " and " F e l i s e "

s t r o n g l y support

h i s statement i n t h e L i f e t h a t he kept a f i l e of

v e r s e s k e l e t o n s d a t i n g from even h i s e a r l i e s t days as a poet and

used o r adapted them t o h i s purposes, sometimes many y e a r s

later.

26
Hardy's a d a p t a t i o n s of Swinburne's forms are not those of a n o v i c e
poet r e p l i c a t i n g w i t h a d m i r a t i o n .

Instead, they demonstrate t h a t

he

influence

takes

inspiration

more

than

from

p a t t e r n s , and sometimes w i t h s u p e r i o r r e s u l t s .

the

metrical

He i s a b l e t o take

i n s p i r a t i o n from the i n t r i g u i n g elements of the poem and

his

own

version

avoiding

the

using

less

and

adapting

successful

framework of the two

poems are remarkably

a l l of

features.

the

While

poems i s very s i m i l a r

produce

good,
the

while

metrical

( T a y l o r 236),

the

two

d i s s i m i l a r i n tone and pace; through h i s more

l i b e r a l use of t r i s y l l a b i c s u b s t i t u t i o n and feminine endings, Hardy

c r e a t e s a poem of l i l t i n g n o s t a l g i a and sweetness of r e c o l l e c t i o n .
Swinburne's more

c o n s i s t e n t use

endings

in

results

poem

of

of

iambs

slower

and

heavier

movement

masculine

and

greater

oppressiveness.
Swinburne's " F e l i s e " opens w i t h the epigraph "Mais ou sont l e s
neiges

d'antan?",

s e t t i n g the tone

end of a mutual l o v e ("One

f o r a poem which laments the

l o v e grows green when one t u r n s

T h i s year knows n o t h i n g of l a s t year")

and whose speaker

i r o n i c a l l y upon the m u t a b i l i t y of l o v e and p a s s i o n .

The

grey;/

reflects

dispirited

tone i s r e i n f o r c e d by the monotony of iambs which r a r e l y b r i d g e

two

words.
x

'

What s h a l l be s a i d between us here

X l x
i
x i
K
I
Among the downs, between the t r e e s ,
"But where are the snows of bygone y e a r s ? " , a l i n e Swinburne
t a k e s from F r a n c o i s V i l l o n .
I t appears i n Le Testament as the
r e f r a i n l i n e of a b a l l a d e c a l l e d "Des Dames du Temps J a d i s , "
or
"Of the L a d i e s of Bygone Times," which mourns the l o s s of
c e l e b r a t e d female b e a u t i e s i n h i s t o r y .
9

27
X

In f i e l d s t h a t knew our f e e t l a s t year

x

I X

In s i g h t o f q u i e t sands and seas,

x

x ^

T h i s year, F e l i s e ?
The use o f s t r o n g s t r e s s e s a t t h e end o f t w o - s y l l a b l e words and t h e
c o n s i s t e n t use o f masculine rhyme convey t h e sense o f weight and
f o r c e t h e pace t o s l a c k e n .
Swinburne's
tetrameter
is

rigid

and

ceaseless

application

of

iambic

( i n 176 l i n e s , only 22 employ t r i s y l l a b i c s u b s t i t u t i o n )

an experiment

i n consistency

- and monotony.

"Felise"

is a

testimony t o Swinburne's r e p u t a t i o n as a t e d i o u s poet, but t h e poem

also

demonstrates h i s remarkable a b i l i t y

language t o f i t h i s m e t r i c a l p a t t e r n .
with a d m i r a t i o n

t o shape and mold t h e

Hardy undoubtedly

noted

h i s contemporary's f a c i l i t y with language, but may

have a l s o r e g i s t e r e d t h e poem's r e s u l t i n g monotony.

While " F e l i s e "

i s a poem o f e x t r a o r d i n a r y t e c h n i c a l v i r t u o u s i t y , i t s monotony and

persistence

i n tone and pace b e l i e

i t s rich

s u b j e c t matter, t h e

m u t a b i l i t y o f l o v e , and t h e i r o n i c a l sadness o f i l l - t i m e d
i
x
x
i
x
i
x
l
Now, though your l o v e seek mine f o r mate,
*
i
x
I
It i s too late.
"At

Castle

Boterel,"

on

r i c h n e s s o f i d e a and e x p r e s s i o n
the

emotions i t r e c o r d s :

the other

hand,

passion:

demonstrates

which r e f l e c t s t h e complexity

developing

affection,

Hardy's d e c i s i o n t o loosen t h e r i g i d i t y

a
of

l o v e and l o n g i n g .

o f t h e iambic

h i s model, and t o a l t e r n a t e masculine and feminine

pattern of

rhymes i n "At

C a s t l e B o t e r e l " r e s u l t s i n a poem o f much l e s s m e t r i c a l weight,

monotony and o p p r e s s i v e n e s s .

Moreover, Hardy p l a c e s

the strong

28

stress

i n the f i r s t

alteration
resilient,

o r second s y l l a b l e

o f Swinburne's

o f some words,

p a t t e r n which

results

a small

i n a f a r more

perhaps even dynamic sound p a t t e r n :

x l
x i x
x
i x
i x
I look behind a t t h e f a d i n g byway
x
i
x
I
X
I
X
|
And see on i t s s l o p e , now g l i s t e n i n g wet,
x
I x
I
x

D i s t i n c t l y yet
One o f t h e more s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s i n Hardy's poem i s i t s
r e l i a n c e on t r i s y l l a b i c s u b s t i t u t i o n .
at

Here, he surpasses Swinburne

h i s own game, i n t r o d u c i n g a movement and pace which s u i t s t h e

poem e n t i r e l y .

In t h e f i r s t t h r e e stanzas, t h e use o f these

rhythms r e p l i c a t e s t h e j e r k i n g c a r r i a g e r i d e i n both

triple

the present

and h i s r e c o l l e c t i o n o f t h e p a s t :
x x j
X X
j
x
x
l
x
x
As I d r i v e t o t h e j u n c t i o n o f lane and highway,
x x
i x
x
I
x
x
i
x I
And t h e d r i z z l e bedrenches the waggonette,
X
|
X
| x x
l x i x
I look behind a t the f a d i n g byway
x
i
x
x
I
x
i
x
l
And see on i t s s l o p e , now g l i s t e n i n g wet,
x i x
I
D i s t i n c t l y yet
x i
Myself
x
/
In d r y
x I
Beside

x x i x
I
x i x
and a g i r l i s h form benighted
x
i x
x

x
<
March weather. We c l i m b t h e road
A

a c h a i s e . We had j u s t a l i g h t e d
X i
X
i x
I x
|
To ease t h e s t u r d y pony's l o a d
x X <
x
i
When he sighed and slowed.

The uneven,

jerking

drawn journey,
above.

rhythm r e f l e c t s

especially

t h e movement o f t h e h o r s e -

i n the f i n a l

four l i n e s

o f t h e stanza

29
Equally

significant

t o the sound and

Hardy's use of feminine rhyme.

third

sense

of t h e v e r s e i s

A feminine ending i n the f i r s t

and

l i n e s of each s t a n z a r e s u l t s i n a weakening of emphasis:

K
i
x
i
x
X
I X
(
X
I look and see i t t h e r e , s h r i n k i n g , s h r i n k i n g ,
y
x
i
x
i
x i x
i
I look back a t i t amid the r a i n ,
x
x
i x x
i
x x j
*.
I x
For the very l a s t time; f o r my sand i s s i n k i n g ,

The r e c o l l e c t i o n s

Hardy d e s c r i b e s are, i n f a c t , f a d i n g , and are not

as sharp and d e f i n e d as a more r e c e n t memory might have been.

His

use of the f e m i n i n e ending c o n t r i b u t e s t o t h i s sense of f a l l i n g o f f

and

evokes the

sweet sadness

of the poem.

A consistent

use

of

masculine endings would have r e s u l t e d i n a poem of somewhat harsher

and more d e f i n i t i v e sound; Hardy's d e c i s i o n t o a l t e r the p a t t e r n t o
which Swinburne adhered r e l i g i o u s l y demonstrates h i s s e n s i t i v i t y t o
rhythm as an e v o c a t i v e instrument.
The

changes

"Felise"

show how

other poets.

Hardy
he

made

to

the

basic

c o u l d draw e f f e c t i v e l y

rhythm
on

he

found

suggestions

in
from

H i s a l t e r a t i o n of the iambic t e t r a m e t e r supports the

s u g g e s t i o n made by T r e v o r Johnson i n a r e c e n t essay on Hardy

and

the E n g l i s h p o e t i c t r a d i t i o n t h a t c r i t i c s have been too extreme i n

c h a r g i n g Hardy w i t h b e i n g a n a i v e poet o p e r a t i n g i n a vacuum r a t h e r
than i n the l i n e of t r a d i t i o n

(Johnson 49).

C r i t i c s have been too

extreme, and y e t Hardy's a d a p t a t i o n of " F e l i s e "

why

i n part explains

they might have overlooked h i s l i n k s w i t h t r a d i t i o n ,

technical

ablilities.

While

Swinburne's

poem

is

t e c h n i c a l success - one c o u l d not miss the a r t f u l iambic

-

Hardy's

virtuosity

is

less

conspicuous,

and

an

and h i s
obvious

regularity

indeed

one

can

30

a p p r e c i a t e h i s p r o s o d i c s k i l l much more f u l l y when one

"At C a s t l e B o t e r e l " w i t h
Who

juxtaposes

"Felise."

knows what i n p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t e d Hardy about t h i s poem,

enough f o r him

t o scan i t , probably r e c o r d i t s p a t t e r n i n one

h i s v e r s e s k e l e t o n s , and

use

i t h i m s e l f many y e a r s

m e t r i c a l base f o r "At C a s t l e B o t e r e l . "

I t may

l a t e r as

be t h a t he was

of
the

- as

w i t h " D o l o r e s " - c a p t i v a t e d by the v i s u a l and m e t r i c a l impact of a

final

l i n e being h a l f the l e n g t h of the other l i n e s i n a s t a n z a .

10

While h i s poem v a r i e s w i d e l y from Swinburne's o r i g i n a l i n rhyme and

rhythm, i t c o n s i s t e n t l y maintains the shortened f i n a l l i n e .
may

Or, i t

be t h a t Hardy saw the metre of " F e l i s e " simply as a unique

which he might one day be a b l e t o adapt t o h i s own

Comparison

of

these

four

poems

uses.

demonstrates

in

part

Swinburne's i n f l u e n c e on Hardy has not drawn a t t e n t i o n t o

While
and

the s t a n z a s of "The

rhyme

scheme t o

r e f l e c t Hardy's own
when

critics

still

Strange

"Dolores,"

House" owe
the

diction

recognized

why

itself.

t h e i r m e t r i c a l form
and

subject

p e c u l i a r background as a poet.
consistently

form

matter

At the
discussed

the

consummate m e t r i c a l a b i l i t i e s of Swinburne, Hardy's v e r s e was

not

y e t c a r e f u l l y s t u d i e d f o r i t s form.
Hardy's
range

of

critical

interest

in practicing

English prosodic
commentary

on

and

And, the r e c e n t r e c o g n i t i o n of
reproducing

possibilities

Swinburne's

and

time

comes

concern

with

w i t h i n the

wide

at

when

time

p o e t i c form

is

See George H e r b e r t ' s " V i r t u e " f o r an e a r l y E n g l i s h example

of t h i s use of a shortened f i n a l l i n e .
T r e v o r Johnson's a r t i c l e
(see above p. 28) develops a c o n n e c t i o n between Herbert and Hardy,
a l t h o u g h he does not mention t h i s poem i n p a r t i c u l a r .
10

31
v i r t u a l l y non-existent.

That t h e two a u t h o r s ' poems demonstrate

few s i m i l a r i t i e s on t h e l e v e l o f d i c t i o n , tone and s u b j e c t matter

r e i n f o r c e s t h e o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t Hardy had a c o n s c i o u s i n t e r e s t i n
p o e t i c form and may have even been moved by some poems e x c l u s i v e l y
on

that

level.

Just

as an a r c h i t e c t

would

study

t h e formal

components o f a b u i l d i n g and p i e c e them t o g e t h e r t o form h i s own

style,

Hardy s t u d i e d t h e formal components o f E n g l i s h v e r s e , and

c o n s t r u c t e d h i s own p o e t i c idiom.

32

IV.
But Hardy's i n t e r e s t i n Swinburne's v e r s e forms goes beyond
borrowing o r c o p y i n g .

Some o f Swinburne's poems were

contemporary,

s u c c e s s f u l examples o f t h e i n q u i r i e s and experiments

taking

place

i n t h e second

half

of

the nineteenth

P u b l i c a t i o n o f c l a s s i c a l experiments i n t h e 1860s
embarking on h i s s e l f - d i r e c t e d

into

prosody
century.

when Hardy was

study o f p o e t r y and Swinburne was

working on A t a l a n t a and Poems & B a l l a d s ( F i r s t S e r i e s )

reached

a z e n i t h which c o u l d o n l y be r i v a l l e d by the number o f experiments

conducted i n t h e l a t e s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y ( T a y l o r 56-7).
poets

were

again

interested

q u a n t i t a t i v e metres

i n the r e p l i c a t i o n

i n English,

although he was a t t h e time

a qualitative

Victorian

of

classical,

language.

Hardy,

completely unknown as a poet,

was

u n q u e s t i o n a b l y experimenting w i t h t h e hexameter and o t h e r c l a s s i c a l

forms i n t h e 1860s and a g a i n when he resumed t h e f u l l - t i m e p u r s u i t
of p o e t r y i n t h e 1890s (see T a y l o r 258 f f . ) .

One c l a s s i c a l l i n e a t

the c e n t r e o f t h i s l i v e l y d i s c u s s i o n was t h e d a c t y l i c hexameter, a

metre used
lyric,

i n antiquity primarily

elegiac,

i n t h e e p i c , but a l s o found i n

p h i l o s o p h i c a l and s a t i r i c a l

poetry.

Nineteenth-

c e n t u r y poets g e n e r a l l y regarded t h i s hexameter l i n e as a supreme

c h a l l e n g e f o r s e v e r a l reasons.
rhythm

begins

necessarily

F i r s t , the s i x - f o o t , f a l l i n g t r i p l e

with

strong

syllable;

d i f f i c u l t t o accomplish i n E n g l i s h without c o n s i s t e n t l y
unimportant

s y l l a b l e s or using anacrusis.

this

is

promoting

Second, t h e hexameter

has a d i s s y l l a b i c ending ( e i t h e r t h e t r o c h e e o r spondee), and t h i s

33

ending becomes monotonous i n a predominantly m o n o s y l l a b i c

And

third,

i n an u n i n f l e c t e d

language

such

language.

as E n g l i s h ,

i t

is

d i f f i c u l t t o keep t h e u n s t r e s s e d p a r t o f t h e f e e t c l e a r and s t r o n g
enough (Murray, The C l a s s i c a l T r a d i t i o n 105-6).
clearly

e x p l a i n why

syllabic

equivalents

c l a s s i c a l rhythms.
the

E n g l i s h poets

metrical

These d i f f i c u l t i e s

struggled to find

f o r t h e hexameter

as w e l l

as

accentualf o r other

S t r i c t a p p l i c a t i o n o f q u a n t i t a t i v e measure t o

conventions

unresolvable d i f f i c u l t i e s

of

qualitative

language

presented

(see T a y l o r 10 f f ) .

U n t i l t h e p u b l i c a t i o n of Poems & B a l l a d s i n 1866, t h e use o f

the hexameter had l a r g e l y been r e s t r i c t e d t o l i g h t o r comic v e r s e .
Swinburnes
appropriate

experiments
lyric

demonstrate

and e l e g i a c treatments

return
while

to

the

a t t h e same

once
time

e x h i b i t i n g an e x c i t i n g break w i t h t h e conventions a s s o c i a t e d w i t h
t r i p l e rhythms.
s i m i l a r purpose.
convention
syllabic

while

Hardy's c l a s s i c a l e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n accomplishes a
L i k e Swinburne, he was attempting t o break w i t h
r e s p e c t i n g t h e m e t r i c a l laws o f t h e a c c e n t u a l -

tradition.

In " H e s p e r i a " and "In T e n e b r i s I I I , "

t h e two poets seek t o

adhere t o t h e m e t r i c a l laws o f t h e a c c e n t u a l - s y l l a b i c
while

attempting

tradition.

to

loosen

t h e conventions

The poems a t t a c k i n t e l l e c t u a l

tradition

surrounding

and s o c i a l

that

as w e l l as

p r o s o d i c conventions o f the V i c t o r i a n p e r i o d by t r e a t i n g s u b j e c t s
which were n e i t h e r a p p r o p r i a t e f o r p a r l o u r rooms nor p a r t i c u l a r l y
uplifting.

While t h e poems a r e i n many r e s p e c t s d i s s i m i l a r , and

a gap o f t h i r t y years separates them, they demonstrate t h a t both

34
Swinburne

and

potential

of

Hardy

were

concerned

accentual-syllabic

with

verse

achieving

by

rising

the

full

above

the

e s t a b l i s h e d conventions of the nineteenth century.

In " H e s p e r i a , "
conventional
subject

Swinburne balances a r e b e l l i o u s r e j e c t i o n o f

wisdom

matter

about

with

metrical

a great

patterns

respect

and

'appropriate'

f o r and knowledge

t r a d i t i o n a l laws o f p o e t r y and c l a s s i c a l c u l t u r e .

of the

He seems t o have

" H e s p e r i a " i n mind when he a s s e r t s :

Law, not lawlessness,
of

poetic

poetic

life;

and

but t h e law must

not p e d a n t i c ,

conventional.
Ballads

i s the natural

("Dedicatory

(First

Series),

condition
itself

natural

be

and n o t

E p i s t l e " Poems &

1904

ed.,

i v , my

emphasis)
His

formulation

echoes A r i s t o t l e , who assumes t h a t t h e poet

know and s t r i c t l y

observe

the m e t r i c a l

laws and t h a t

will

"whatever

v a r i e t y o f m e t r i c a l e f f e c t t h e poet may produce o r aim a t , i t must

always be a v a r i e t y i n s i d e t h e r u l e s o f a r t " (Murray, The C l a s s i c a l
T r a d i t i o n 18).
Swinburne's
contrasts

description

significantly

of

with

himself

as

his literary

"lawful"

reputation

poet

just

as

Hardy's r e p u t a t i o n as a clumsy poet was u n t i l r e c e n t l y d i f f i c u l t t o

reconcile

with

his interest

i n metre.

t e c h n i q u e has been u n f o r t u n a t e l y

Swinburne's

brilliant

e c l i p s e d by t h e view t h a t he wrote

unseemly v e r s e and spent much o f h i s time r a n t i n g

and r a v i n g i n

drunken

conjures

stupor.

mention

o f Swinburne's

name

more

clearly

t h e image

bannister

naked

slide

down

Gabriel

and t h e sound o f monotonous, s u p e r f l u o u s

does t e c h n i c a l
comparison
clarify

of

brilliance

and d e v o t i o n

of "Hesperia"

that

with

verse,

to a r t i s t i c

"In T e n e b r i s

Swinburne and Hardy were both

Rossetti's
than i t

freedom.

III" will
fascinated

help

A
to

with the

concept o f ordered l i b e r t y , and t h a t Hardy may have been i n s p i r e d

by Swinburne, t h e b o l d , experimental poet who d e l i g h t e d l y threw o f f
the

mantle

of convention

while

refusing

s t r u c t u r e s and s e c u r i t y o f e s t a b l i s h e d
"Hesperia"

depicts

a mortal

t o leave

behind t h e

tradition.

male's

passionate

desire f o r

H e s p e r i a , one o f f o u r daughters o f Venus who guard t h e garden o f

the H e s p e r i d e s i n t h e f a r west, "where t h e sea without shore i s "
(1. 1 ) . The poem i s i n many r e s p e c t s
of

imagination,

as Swinburne p a i r s

a lyrical flight:

a disillusioned

a flight

mortal

lover

w i t h one o f t h e daughters of t h e Hesperides, a f l i g h t o f rhythm as

anapaests and d a c t y l s combine i n a m e t r i c a l
flight

from r e a l i t y

The speaker's d e s i r e i s e r o t i c and h i g h l y

charged w i t h p h y s i c a l and s p i r i t u a l p a s s i o n ,

passion.

Swinburne's p a r t i c u l a r a d a p t a t i o n

restrict
hexameter

matched

h i s lines
(five

and i t evokes a s t r o n g

The poem d e p i c t s emotional c o n f u s i o n r e s u l t i n g

from d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t w i t h c o r p o r e a l

appropriately

de f o r c e and a

as t h e speaker yearns t o escape t o t h e west

w i t h h i s mythic l o v e r .

sense o f u n r e a l i t y .

tour

to this

sense

t o the r i g i d

dactyls

and a f i n a l

o f t h e hexameter

of confusion.
structure
trochee),

line i s

Rather

of the

than

classical

Swinburne

boldly

s u b s t i t u t e s anapaests f o r d a c t y l s , a move which observes t h e laws

of

substitution

rhythms.

With

but u n c o n v e n t i o n a l l y
these

pairs

substitutions

he

two opposing

avoids

triple

t h e heavy

and

monotonous p a t t e r n o f a d a c t y l i c f o o t and a t t h e same time evokes

a p o w e r f u l s e n s a t i o n o f movement and u n p r e d i c t a b i l i t y :
i
x
x
i
x
x
i
x
i
x.
x.
/
xx.
Out o f t h e golden remote w i l d west where t h e s e a without
l

shore i s ,
*
X.
I

'

x,

F u l l o f t h e sunset, and sad, i f a t a l l , w i t h t h e f u l l n e s s of

joy,
X X
I
X
i
x
*
I X X l
X
X
I X
As a wind s e t s i n w i t h t h e autumn t h a t blows from t h e r e g i o n
x
i x
of s t o r i e s
Here,

the t h i r d

line

o f t h e poem

breaks

t h e heavy

pattern

i n i t i a l s t r o n g s t r e s s e s by s u b s t i t u t i n g anapaests f o r d a c t y l s .

of
The

i n s e r t i o n o f a l i n e o f anapaests breaks the p o t e n t i a l monotony of

initial

strong

reversing

s t r e s s e s and a l s o suggests t h e s w i r l i n g o f wind by

the

two

triple

rhythms.

As

the

poem

progresses,

i n t e r m i t t e n t a n a p a e s t i c l i n e s c o n t i n u e t o break t h e heavy

pattern

of d a c t y l s .

T h i s i n t e r p l a y between two t r i p l e rhythms demonstrates

Swinburne's

willingness

tradition.

While convention would deny t h a t

t o experiment

within

the confines
anapaests c o u l d

of
be

e f f e c t i v e l y s u b s t i t u t e d f o r d a c t y l s , t h e experiment i n "Hesperia"
demonstrates
classical

that

hexameter

such

an

exchange

successfully

i n a q u a l i t a t i v e language;

adapts

without

the

making

c o n c e s s i o n t o q u a n t i t y , Swinburne c r e a t e s a l y r i c hexameter l i n e by
stretching

the p o t e n t i a l

of the m e t r i c a l

laws

surrounding the

accentual-syllabic tradition.
Other

metrical

effects

used

by

Swinburne

in

"Hesperia"

37

i n d i c a t e h i s respect f o r the prosodic t r a d i t i o n .

the

monotony

o f t h e hexameter's

dissyllabic

In o r d e r t o a v o i d
ending,

Swinburne

a l t e r n a t e s t h e use o f t h e f i n a l t r o c h e e w i t h c a t a l e x i s throughout
the poem.

T h i s move makes p o s s i b l e t h e a l t e r n a t i o n o f masculine

and f e m i n i n e rhyme, f u r t h e r d i s p e l l i n g t h e monotony.

As a r e s u l t ,

Swinburne i s a b l e t o employ t h e t r a c e o f a c l a s s i c a l form and y e t

e x h i b i t e x t r a o r d i n a r y freedom and c r e a t i v i t y w i t h i n t h a t form.
strictly

observing metrical

By

law but a p p l y i n g i t i n r e v o l u t i o n a r y

f a s h i o n , he produces a b r i l l i a n t and i n t r i c a t e poem.

This

increased

metrical

flexibility

parallels

d e p a r t u r e from t h e c o n v e n t i o n a l treatment o f l o v e .
is

a vivid,

erotic

flight

o f p a s s i o n which

flies

Swinburne's

"Hesperia"
i n t h e f a c e of

more c o n v e n t i o n a l , r e s t r a i n e d treatments o f t h e e r o t i c such as t h e

sonnets o f E l i z a b e t h B a r r e t t Browning o r Tennyson's
romances.

Unfortunately, V i c t o r i a n

fantastical

statements

of love

audiences used

could

not understand

poem as a statement o f fancy more than o f f a c t .

neo-medieval
t o more

less

Swinburne's

As e x p e r i m e n t a l as

h i s metres, t h e s t o r y o f " H e s p e r i a " remains m y t h i c a l and f a n c i f u l

from b e g i n n i n g t o end, thus p r o v i d i n g i n f i n i t e l i b e r t y t o t h e poet
who

was

imagined

also

experimenting

with

the depth

and

breadth

o f an

reality.

By c h o o s i n g a m y t h i c a l s u b j e c t as o b j e c t f o r t h e p a s s i o n s of
the poem's speaker, Swinburne o f f e r s h i s f i r s t c l u e t h a t t h e v e r s e
w i l l be concerned w i t h fancy more than w i t h f a c t .

According t o the

myth, H e s p e r i a i s one o f t h e daughters o f the evening who l i v e d i n

the f a r west g u a r d i n g the golden f r u i t

of the garden and s i n g i n g

38

for recreation.
which

spurted

appropriate

The daughters sang i n chorus near a gushing s p r i n g

forth

object

ambrosia.

Swinburne

has chosen

f o r t h e speaker's a f f e c t i o n ,

highly

but r a t h e r

than

l e a v e H e s p e r i a i n t h e f a r west as a d i s t a n t o b j e c t o f worship, he
b r i n g s her i n "as a b i r d

borne

i n w i t h t h e wind

" s t r a i g h t from t h e sunset a c r o s s white waves."

from t h e west,"

The r u s h i n g d a c t y l s

and s w i r l i n g anapaests a l o n g w i t h t h e a l l i t e r a t i o n a l l r e i n f o r c e
the ephemeral,
Having

f a n c i f u l v i s i o n of t h e poem.

adapted

the c l a s s i c a l

myth,

Swinburne

proceeds

to

p o r t r a y t h e speaker's p r e v i o u s amorous e x p e r i e n c e s and h i s f e e l i n g s

f o r H e s p e r i a i n b o l d language

and images.

The speaker c a l l s f o r

H e s p e r i a t o r e l e a s e him from " l o v e t h a t r e c a l l s and r e p r e s s e s , / T h a t

c l e a v e s t o my f l e s h as a flame" and from "the b i t t e r d e l i g h t s of
the dark, and t h e f e v e r i s h , t h e f u r t i v e c a r e s s e s . " Such images a r e
powerful and e r o t i c , and t h e i r presence i n t h e poem c o n t r i b u t e d t o
i t s shocking e f f e c t .

The speaker yearns f o r H e s p e r i a t o ease t h e

p a i n o f a l o v e t h a t "wounds as we grasp i t , and b l a c k e n s and burns

as a flame."

H e s p e r i a may p r o v i d e t h e speaker w i t h escape from h i s

c r u e l former l o v e r who i s " f l u s h e d as w i t h wine w i t h t h e b l o o d o f

her

lovers."

fanciful

He wishes

respite

invisible tide."

to " f l y "

"where l i f e

with the l o v e l y

breaks

goddess t o a

loud and unseen,

sonorous

Swinburne's images a r e g r a p h i c and a t t h e same

time

oddly e n c h a n t i n g ; they p r e s e n t l o v e as a p a r a d o x i c a l power

which

can wound as w e l l as h e a l , which has a p h y s i c a l as w e l l as

s p i r i t u a l dimension.

To V i c t o r i a n s who "were a t once obsessed w i t h

sex and t e r r i f i e d o f i t "

(Henderson

130), t h i s p o r t r a i t o f l o v e as

39
a p h y s i c a l e x p e r i e n c e w i t h s p i r i t u a l hazards was shocking, d a r i n g
and

unconventional.
The

speaker's

d e s i r e t o f l y from

the c r u e l

f o r c e o f human

p h y s i c a l p a s s i o n and j o i n H e s p e r i a t h e goddess "by t h e meadows o f

memory" and "the h i g h l a n d s o f hope" i s u n d e r l i n e d by t h e r u s h i n g
rhythmic

pattern.

Swinburne's

particular

adaptation

of the

hexameter merges form w i t h content by evoking a r u s h o f wind and a

swirling
from

flight.

The a l t e r n a t i o n o f anapaest

line to line

and d a c t y l ,

or foot t o foot within a l i n e ,

either

r e i n f o r c e s the

sense t h a t t h e speaker's experience, l i k e t h e m e t r i c a l p a t t e r n , i s

groundless

and u n f i x e d .

mere t e c h n i c a l
statement

A d a p t a t i o n o f t h e hexameter goes beyond

virtuosity;

"Hesperia"

i s a poem which

makes a

about l o v e on s e v e r a l l e v e l s .

T h i r t y y e a r s a f t e r Swinburne composed and p u b l i s h e d h i s d a r i n g

hexameter experiment,

Hardy wrote a s e r i e s of poems e n t i t l e d "In

Tenebris".

The t h i r d

represents

one o f Hardy's

Unlike

"Hesperia,"

in this

series,

experiments

"In T e n e b r i s

a c o n t r a s t t o Swinburne's

hexameter experiment

t h e hexameter

I I I " remains

d a r k e s t moments o f misery and d e s p a i r .

ways

with

"In T e n e b r i s I I I , "

flight

grounded

form.
i n the

T h i s poem p r e s e n t s i n many
of imagination.

Hardy's

i s much s h o r t e r (20 l i n e s t o Swinburne's 92),

l e s s v a r i e d and more e v i d e n t l y p h i l o s o p h i c a l , but i t shares

"Hesperia"
metrical

suitability

law and an

o f form

attempt

and content,

to translate

with

respect f o r

t h e hexameter

into

a c c e n t u a l - s y l l a b i c measure.
"In T e n e b r i s I I I " i s t h e t h i r d and m e t r i c a l l y t h e most complex

in the series.

The speaker's brooding about "when he might have

d i e d b e f o r e becoming d i s i l l u s i o n e d " i s t h e u l t i m a t e o f t h i s s e r i e s
of

dark

and sombre

poems which

"offer

some

c a l l i n g Hardy a p e s s i m i s t " ( B a i l e y 188 & 180).

"Hesperia"

challenged

mid-Victorian

c h a l l e n g e s V i c t o r i a n optimism
t o c o n t r o l o r determine
"In
problems

Tenebris"

knowledge o f prosody
solution.

J u s t as Swinburne's

prudery,

Hardy's

h i s experience.
that

t h e hexameter

Hardy

line.

was
Like

aware

preserving

Swinburne, h i s

p r o v i d e d him w i t h t o o l s t o c r e a t e a

monotony o f t h e f a l l i n g

the dolorous

stresses:
/ X X .
Fashioned

tone

triple

evoked

I
X
x
i
and f u r b i s h e d t h e s o i l

Hardy's c h o i c e o f t r o c h e e s

unique

by

rhythm w h i l e

the

intitial

as a s u b s t i t u t e

t o t h e s u b j e c t matter
s t r e s s e s prevents

still
strong

x x
i x j x t * .
i n t o a summer-seeming order
f o r d a c t y l s i s more

c o n s e r v a t i v e than Swinburne's c h o i c e of anapaests,

heavy

of the

Hardy's s u b s t i t u t i o n of t r o c h e e s f o r d a c t y l s i n t e r r u p t s

the p o t e n t i a l

suited

poem

and f a i t h i n t h e i n d i v i d u a l ' s power

demonstrates

of adapting

justification for

but i s e q u a l l y

o f h i s poem; t h e r e p e t i t i o n

t h e d a c t y l s from

rushing

of the

t o o much and

l e n d i n g t o o much l e v i t y t o a poem which i s about an i n d i v i d u a l who

is

weighted

with

and n e a r l y immobilized

world was a w e l t e r o f f u t i l e d o i n g . "

as Swinburne's " H e s p e r i a " s w i r l s
Although

Hardy begins

by knowledge t h a t "the

The poem p l o d s h e a v i l y j u s t

lightly.

16 l i n e s o f t h e poem w i t h t h e s t r o n g

s t r e s s of a d a c t y l , he does employ a n a c r u s i s f o u r times ( l i n e s s i x ,

nine,

13 and 18) i n order

t o be a b l e t o begin

lines

with

weak

41
words.

By doing so, he a l s o r e l i e v e s t h e p a t t e r n o f two a d j a c e n t

s t r o n g s t r e s s e s a t t h e end o f one l i n e and t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e

next.

More f r e q u e n t l y , Hardy makes h i s f i n a l t r o c h e e c a t a l e c t i c

i n t h e f i r s t and f i n a l l i n e o f each f o u r - l i n e s t a n z a
end

the l i n e

on a s t r o n g

stress

rhymes w i t h two masculine rhymes.

p a t t e r n by c o n s t r u c t i n g double

and thus

envelop

i n order t o
two

feminine

He f u r t h e r c o m p l i c a t e s t h e rhyme

rhyme ( f o r example,

border/order,

f o l k there/awoke there) on t h e feminine rhyme, a g a i n a d a p t i n g t h e

classical

line

t o h i s own

conventions,

not those

o f t h e mid-

Victorians.
U n l i k e " H e s p e r i a , " Hardy's poem i s grounded f i r m l y i n r e a l i t y .
T h i s poem i s n o t an escape from but a c o n f r o n t a t i o n w i t h t h e human
condition.

The speaker's

p a s t a r e provoked

reminiscences

o f happy moments i n h i s

by h i s b i t t e r r e c o g n i t i o n t h a t he might have been

b e t t e r t o have "passed

then and the ending

have come" b e f o r e he

"had l e a r n t t h a t t h e world was a w e l t e r o f f u t i l e d o i n g . "

Hardy's

is

recalls

a curious twist

on n o s t a l g i c

reflection:

h i s speaker

happy memories o n l y t o wish t h a t none had f o l l o w e d them.

The

poem t r a c e s t h e o r i g i n

recognition

that "vision

o f t h e speaker's

despair t o the

c o u l d vex" and "knowledge c o u l d numb,"

perhaps a r e f e r e n c e t o t h e impact of i d e a s such as Darwin's t h e o r y

of e v o l u t i o n which caused many V i c t o r i a n s d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t and even
despair

as e s t a b l i s h e d f a i t h s

question.

Whatever t h e source

and c e r t i t u d e s

were

o f t h e speaker's

called

into

b i t t e r despair,

Hardy's poem r e p r e s e n t s t h e q u e s t i o n i n g and s e l f - d o u b t which o f f s e t

some o f t h e tremendous optimism and f a i t h i n t h e e s t a b l i s h e d s o c i a l

42

and

intellectual

orders

of

the V i c t o r i a n

period.

Just

as

Swinburne's " H e s p e r i a " d e p i c t s one man's disenchantment w i t h t h e

s a t i s f a c t i o n s o f p u r e l y p h y s i c a l l o v e , Hardy's poem evokes through
both

image

and

sound

the

d e p r e s s i o n which c o u l d r e s u l t
b e l i e f s and f a i t h s .

extraordinary

disillusionment

and

from t h e s h a t t e r i n g o f e s t a b l i s h e d

I t succeeds

e s p e c i a l l y because the semantic

l e v e l o f t h e poem i s r e i n f o r c e d w i t h c o r r e s p o n d i n g sound, rhythm

and metre.
"Hesperia"

and

"In T e n e b r i s

I I I " represent

two

highly

a p p r o p r i a t e and i n t r i c a t e a d a p t a t i o n s of an extremely c h a l l e n g i n g
metrical

structure.

Rather

than

fall

prey

to

quantitative

e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n l i k e t h a t conducted by Tennyson, both Swinburne and

Hardy chose t o evoke t h e hexameter i n terms o f E n g l i s h prosody, not
the

reverse.

Both poems prove

extraordinary
necessarily

possibilities,
being

realized

t h a t E n g l i s h m e t r i c a l law h o l d s
possibilities

by

relegating

a d a p t a t i o n o f t h e hexameter t o " l i g h t v e r s e . "

many t r a d i t i o n a l

which

m e t r i c a l techniques,

were

not

accentual-syllabic
Through t h e i r use of

Hardy

and Swinburne

have

c r e a t e d l y r i c s which demonstrate an i n t e r e s t i n a d a p t i n g c l a s s i c a l
forms w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l

tools,

but a r e u n w i l l i n g t o y i e l d

V i c t o r i a n conventions which surrounded

of

those

t o the

forms.

Both Swinburne and Hardy a l s o experimented

w i t h v a r i o u s forms

sapphic

century,

verse.

experimentation

In

the

nineteenth

sapphic

took p l a c e on thematic and t e c h n i c a l l e v e l s .

On

the one hand, poets and s c h o l a r s c o n t i n u e d a c e n t u r i e s - o l d s t r u g g l e

t o t r a n s l a t e i n t o E n g l i s h t h e e l e g a n t and m u s i c a l fragments o f t h e

Greek

poet

Sappho,

equivalent.

either

into

v e r s e or

more

literal

prose

Hardy p r a i s e s Swinburne's e f f o r t s i n t r a n s l a t i o n i n a

l e t t e r t o t h e poet i n 1897:
One

day,

when

examining

i m i t a t i o n s of a well-known

several

English

fragment of Sappho,

I i n t e r e s t e d myself i n t r y i n g t o s t r i k e out a
b e t t e r e q u i v a l e n t f o r i t than the commonplace
"Thou,

too,

shalt

die"

&c.

which

a l l the

t r a n s l a t o r s had used d u r i n g the l a s t

years.

11

then

stumbled

upon

hundred

your

"Thee,

too, the y e a r s s h a l l cover" [ i n " A n a c t o r i a " ] ,

and a l l my s p i r i t f o r p o e t i c p a i n s d i e d out of
me....Having
carried
years
works

rediscovered

me

back

to

ago,

when

walking

s t r e e t s , t o my
down.

the

buoyant

used

along
imminent

this

to
the

read

phrase,
time
your

crowded

it

of

30

early
London

r i s k of b e i n g knocked

( L e t t e r s . v o l . 2 158)

The f i n a l sentence i n t h i s b r i e f p i e c e of correspondence has o f t e n

been

quoted

as evidence of Hardy's

e a r l y v e r s e w h i l e l i v i n g i n London.

i n f a t u a t i o n with

Swinburne's

More s i g n i f i c a n t l y , t h e l e t t e r

demonstrates Hardy's and Swinburne's common i n t e r e s t i n the p o e t r y

of Sappho, and Hardy's s e n s i t i v i t y t o the c h a l l e n g e o f t r a n s l a t i n g
Hardy's "Sapphic Fragment" i n d i c a t e s t h a t he s e t t l e d on
"Dead s h a l t thou l i e . " He chose as an e p i g r a p h f o r h i s t r a n s l a t i o n
of t h e fragment two o t h e r t r a n s l a t i o n s , "Thou s h a l t be - Nothing"
(Omar Khayyam) and "Tombless,
w i t h no remembrance"
(William
Shakespeare.
11

44
from a q u a n t i t a t i v e t o a q u a l i t a t i v e language without
p o e t i c grace.

sacrificing

The t r a n s l a t i o n o f a sapphic fragment t o which Hardy

r e f e r s i s one i n unrhymed iambic v e r s e which Swinburne i n t e r p o l a t e d

i n t o " A n a c t o r i a , " h i s poem about l o v e between A p h r o d i t e and Sappho.
I n t e r e s t i n Sappho's v e r s e went beyond t h e need t o t r a n s l a t e
effectively
were

also

commonly,

one l i n e o f t h e fragments.
preoccupied

attention

with

t h e form

t o sapphic

form

Nineteenth-century
o f Sappho's

verse.

Less commonly, poets attempted

Most

included the creation

'sapphic e f f e c t , ' c o n c l u d i n g a stanza w i t h a two-beat l i n e

260).

poets

of a

(Taylor

t o " t r a n s l a t e " sapphic metre

i n t o E n g l i s h a c c e n t u a l - s y l l a b i c v e r s e , composing q u a l i t a t i v e v e r s e
w i t h i n a q u a n t i t a t i v e matrix.

One such experiment

i s Swinburne's

ambitious attempt a t a c c e n t u a l - s y l l a b i c sapphic metre, "Sapphics,"

p u b l i s h e d i n Poems & B a l l a d s ( F i r s t
While
Hardy

Series).

t h e t e c h n i c a l nature o f "Sapphics" may not have moved

emotionally

as

much

as

the t r a n s l a t i o n

of

Sappho

in

" A n a c t o r i a " o b v i o u s l y d i d , t h e r e i s evidence t h a t i t i n t r i g u e d him.

He

carefully

scanned

several

e d i t i o n o f Poems & B a l l a d s .

lines
The

of t h e poem

tone

of

i n h i s (1873)

Hardy's

letter

to

Swinburne and Hardy's scanning o f "Sapphics" t o g e t h e r i n d i c a t e t h a t

Swinburne's experiments
well

d i r e c t l y motivated Hardy t o experiment as

with d r a m a t i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t r e s u l t s .

What began f o r Hardy

as an emotional r e a c t i o n t o t h e p o e t i c beauty o f a t r a n s l a t i o n , may

have l e d t o an i n t e l l e c t u a l i n t e r e s t i n the sapphic s t a n z a and t h e
m e t r i c a l challenges i t represented t o nineteenth-century poets.
T e c h n i c a l a n a l y s i s and comparison

o f Swinburne's

"Sapphics"

and Hardy's
responded
into

"The Temporary t h e A l l " w i l l demonstrate how each poet

t o t h e c h a l l e n g e o f t r a n s l a t i n g q u a n t i t a t i v e Greek metre

a c c e n t u a l - s y l l a b i c verse.

transposition

quoted

Swinburne's poem i s a m a s t e r f u l

frequently

by

classical

scholars

as

an

admirable E n g l i s h v e r s i o n o f t h e Greek m e t r i c a l e f f e c t . Hardy's i s

a

more

problematic

sufficiently
explain

adaptation

t o prompt Hardy

t h e metre

(Purdy

whose

metre

puzzled

t o add t h e s u b t i t l e

287).

As w i t h

critics

"Sapphics" t o

h i s adaptation of the

d a c t y l i c hexameter, Hardy's sapphics may have found i t s i n s p i r a t i o n

i n Swinburne, but i t takes on a m e t r i c a l ambiguity

and complexity

which i s d i s t i n c t l y Hardy's.
Swinburne's f a s c i n a t i o n with t h e poet Sappho and her works has
a long h i s t o r y ; from h i s e a r l i e s t acquaintance w i t h Greek v e r s e a t
Eton,

he r e v e r e d her works and her l i l t i n g

verse.

Edmund Gosse

notes t h a t he e a r l y demonstrated a p r e f e r e n c e f o r l y r i c p o e t r y such

as Sappho's
with

(Swinburne 24-5).

Sappho's

verse

His early

undoubtedly

and l a s t i n g

experience

made h i s e a r s e n s i t i v e

t o her

m e t r i c a l e f f e c t s and i n f l u e n c e d the success o f h i s "Sapphics," a

poem

which

one

classical

scholar

singles

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n E n g l i s h of Sappho's rhythms:
these

ringing

i n the reader's

ears,

out

as

the

best

"With such l i n e s as

he can almost

hear

Sappho

h e r s e l f s i n g i n g . . . . " (Wharton 43).

Like

"In H e s p e r i a , "

quantitative

"Sapphics"

interpretation.

pattern J U l U I U U I U
accentual-syllabic

JU(l)

structure.

makes

no

concessions

to

The poem mimics t h e Greek m e t r i c a l

by t r a n s l a t i n g i t d i r e c t l y
Swinburne

does

i n t o an

not attempt

to

46

reproduce t h e c l a s s i c a l metre; i n s t e a d , he produces a v e r s e which

is

parallel

to the o r i g i n a l .

English f o r expressing
pattern

Recognizing

the l i m i t a t i o n s of

q u a n t i t a t i v e measure, he suggests a sapphic

by echoing p r e c i s i o n o f sound p a t t e r n .

The poem a v o i d s

monotony and a c h i e v e s l y r i c grace through t h e f l e x i b l e placement o f

the

optional

restrained

spondaic

foot,

use o f s o f t

promotion

consonant

o r demotion

alliteration,

of stresses,

and assonance.

These t e c h n i q u e s a r e perhaps more s u g g e s t i v e o f t h e sapphic rhythm

than

the

metrical

Swinburne's
overall

pattern

sensitivity

effect

unmistakeable,
discernible

on

itself,

not only

the ear.

t h e more

successful evocation

While

may

their

t o metre,

intricate

even though they

and

use

but t o t h e poem's

the m e t r i c a l

prosodic
contribute

reflects

pattern

techniques

is

are less

more t o t h e poem's

o f a c l a s s i c a l metre than t h e metre

itself.

Rules o f Greek prosody i d e n t i f y t h e second f o o t i n t h e f i r s t

t h r e e l i n e s o f t h e sapphic stanza as e i t h e r a spondee o r a t r o c h e e .
The

L a t i n v e r s i o n o f t h i s form r e q u i r e s t h a t t h e second f o o t be a

spondee.

Swinburne's d e c i s i o n

intermittently

reflects

t o use both

h i s knowledge

of

spondee and t r o c h e e
classical

perhaps, a r e c o g n i t i o n t h a t unbending m e t r i c a l
adaptation
fails

and,

form i n c l a s s i c a l

r e s u l t s i n monotonous and s t i l t e d E n g l i s h v e r s e which

t o capture

t h e grace of c l a s s i c a l

lyrics.

Thus t h e poem

opens:
I
x
i
I (x)
i
x
x r x
i
1
A l l t h e n i g h t s l e e p came not upon my e y e l i d s

and

form

s h i f t s i n t h e next l i n e t o :
/

'

'

Shed n o t dew, nor shook nor u n c l o s e d a f e a t h e r

Swinburne extends t h i s f l e x i b l e a d a p t a t i o n o f Greek and L a t i n form

by s u b s t i t u t i n g spondees f o r some o f t h e f i n a l t r o c h e e s w i t h words
or phrases
scansion

such

as " e y e l i d s "

o f 1. 1 ) , "forehead"

s o a r s " (1. 56) and " d e w f a l l "

any p r e c i s e correspondence
not

(a v a r i a t i o n noted

detract

Swinburne

from

" a l l men"

(1.52),

"bird

(1. 72). These l i b e r t i e s may d e s t r o y

w i t h t h e c l a s s i c a l metre, but they do

t h e poem's

abandons p r e c i s e

(1.49),

by Hardy i n h i s

charm

and

translation,

beauty

perhaps

(Hamer
because

320) .
he has

r e c o g n i z e d t h a t t h e c l a s s i c a l l y r i c cannot be t r u l y reproduced i n
E n g l i s h ; i t can o n l y be s u g g e s t i v e o f c l a s s i c a l rhythms, metres and
sounds.
F.W.

Newman,

an

editor

of

Matthew

Arnold's

essays

and

t r a n s l a t o r o f t h e I l i a d , observes t h a t Greek i s "a h i g h l y v o c a l i z e d

tongue; w h i l e ours i s o v e r f i l l e d w i t h consonants"
152).

Swinburne

works

to

recreate

this

(quoted i n Smith

characteristic

by

r e s t r a i n i n g h i s use o f a l l i t e r a t i o n and emphasizing repeated vowel

sounds.

The

infrequent a l l i t e r a t i v e

smooth, as i n "western
" l a u r e l by l a u r e l "
only

two examples

waters"

(1.11),

consonants
"flying

feet"

o f hard

consonant

alliteration

The e f f e c t o f t h i s s o f t e n e d a l l i t e r a t i o n

supple

sound

The

and

(1.17), and

(1.32), with "doves d e p a r t i n g " (1. 45) one o f

poem.

highlights

are soft

which

de-emphasizes

the

i n the entire
i s a smooth and

consonant

sounds

and

vowels.

poem's assonance r e i n f o r c e s

soft alliteration.

the e f f e c t

a c h i e v e d by t h e

For example, i n l i n e 7,

S o f t l y touched mine e y e l i d s and l i p s ; and I t o o ,

48

Swinburne rhymes t h e long i i n "mine," "eye" and " I , "

the

short

i in "lids"

and " l i p s . "

r e p e a t s t h e same word o r p r e f i x

as w e l l as

And throughout t h e poem, he

s e v e r a l times i n a s t a n z a ( f o r

example, "saw" i n stanzas 3 and 12 and "un" i n s t a n z a 3 and 19) i n

order t o r e p e a t and emphasize t h e vowel sounds.

Newman's comments

on t h e sound q u a l i t y o f Greek and Swinburne's attempt t o reproduce

the

sense

of

Greek

reconsideration

of

verse
the

in

rhythm

criticism

of

and

sound

Swinburne's

r e p e t i t i o u s and mesmerizing, and t h e r e f o r e

lacking

prompt
verse

a
as

i n substance.

"Sapphics" c l e a r l y demonstrates t h a t Swinburne's i n t e n t i o n was t o

suggest t h e sound and sense o f t h e q u a n t i t a t i v e v e r s e o f Sappho,
w h i l e r e s t r i c t i n g h i m s e l f t o t h e p r o s o d i c t o o l s of t h e a c c e n t u a l syllabic

tradition.

The unmistakable and admired sapphic rhythms o f Swinburne's

poem c o n t r a s t s h a r p l y w i t h the rhythms o f "The Temporary t h e A l l "
which

so

puzzled

Hardy's

critics.

No

one

seemed

really

to

understand t h e m e t r i c a l s t r u c t u r e o f t h i s poem; y e t i t was a poem

which was u n q u e s t i o n a b l y v a l u e d by Hardy, who chose t o p l a c e i t a t
the

beginning

Ironically,

of

his first

published

collection

of

verse.

t h e poem d i d r e c e i v e s p e c i f i c p r a i s e from Swinburne,

who, i n a l e t t e r t o Hardy acknowledging r e c e i p t of a copy of Wessex

Poems, s a i d

t h a t he admired "none more than t h e f r o n t i s p i e c e so

h a p p i l y chosen and t h e poem i t i l l u s t r a t e s "

Hardy

had perhaps p l a c e d

interpretation
critics,

( L e t t e r s v o l . 6 133).

t o o much c o n f i d e n c e

of h i s m e t r i c a l

structure,

i n the successful

t h e knowledge

and t o a s m a l l extent, h i s own a b i l i t y ;

of h i s

h i s decision to

p l a c e the s u b t i t l e "Sapphics" i n the next e d i t i o n i s i n one

representative

of

h i s career

as

poet:

Hardy's

sense

interest

in

c l a s s i c a l prosody and h i s attempts a t r e p r o d u c i n g i t have not been

c l e a r l y understood, nor have they been p r o p e r l y a p p r e c i a t e d .

While

the c r i t i c s ' response i s understandable g i v e n the poem's m e t r i c a l

ambiguity, the subsequent
or

d i s m i s s a l of Hardy's e f f o r t s as amateur

u n s u c c e s s f u l has not acknowledged h i s a b i l i t y t o c o n t r o l metre

and h i s s o l i d understanding of c l a s s i c a l prosody.

this

h i m s e l f when he

commented

that

"he

often

He r e c o g n i z e d
wrote

verse

in

Sapphics but i n t e n t i o n a l l y not q u i t e c o r r e c t - a bad t h i n g t o do

because

then people thought

( F e l k i n , quoted

he d i d not know what Sapphics were"

i n B a i l e y 48).

In f a c t ,

"The

Temporary the

All"

demonstrates t h a t Hardy d i d know sapphic v e r s e , even i f h i s attempt

may

not have been r e c e i v e d as s u c c e s s f u l as had t h a t of Swinburne.

Hardy's comment t h a t

he wrote sapphics "not q u i t e

a p p l i e s u n q u e s t i o n a b l y t o "The Temporary the A l l . "

correct"

Ten of 24 l i n e s

do not scan c o n f i d e n t l y as sapphic l i n e s ; of these, two are adonic

l i n e s which break the p a t t e r n of a d a c t y l f o l l o w e d by a t r o c h e e or
spondee.
line,

While the s y l l a b l e count remains c o n s t a n t a t 11 i n each

the placement

of s t r e s s e s v a r i e s f a r more than Swinburne's

o c c a s i o n a l spondee s u b s t i t u t e d f o r a d a c t y l .
The f i r s t
l

l i n e s e t s the tone f o r m e t r i c a l
x

I (x)

Change and c h a n c e f u l n e s s i n my
While

the

first

"chancefulness

foot
i n my"

i s decidely
are

ambiguity:

I X

f l o w e r i n g youthtime

a t r o c h e e , the next

problematical.

Hardy has

two

feet,

apparently

chosen " c h a n c e f u l n e s s " as an experiment of b u i l d i n g words on common

50
r o o t s l i k e the poet Barnes ( B a i l e y 48), but f a v o u r i n g d i c t i o n over
metre p r e s e n t s a problem of s c a n s i o n :

i t i s d i f f i c u l t to identify

c o n f i d e n t l y the s t r e s s p a t t e r n as t h a t of a d a c t y l .
words " i n my"

c o u l d be scanned as p y r r h i c

n e i t h e r c h o i c e i s e n t i r e l y s a t i s f a c t o r y or

The next

or t r o c h a i c ,

although

fitting.

Subsequent l i n e s p r e s e n t s i m i l a r u n c e r t a i n t i e s
Is t h e f i r s t

i n scansion.

f o o t i n l i n e s 3 and 17 a t r o c h e e or a spondee?

Hardy c o n s i s t e n t l y
would be expected,

p l a c e the

dactyl

two

i n the

third

or does he move i t t o the second

foot
foot?

Does

where i t
Does he

i n t e n t i o n a l l y f o l l o w a d a c t y l w i t h a p y r r h i c , thus s e t t i n g up f o u r
consecutive unstressed s y l l a b l e s ?

P l a u s i b l e misreadings of Hardy's

m e t r i c a l i n t e n t i o n s can be a p p l i e d t o n e a r l y o n e - h a l f of the e n t i r e
poem and

s e t a tone

not

indeed of "change and

Hardy's

of c o n s i s t e n c y and

predictability,

but,

chancefulness."

alteration

of

the

adonic

line

hints

at

the

p u r p o s e f u l n e s s of h i s a l t e r a t i o n s of the standard s a p p h i c metre.

The two adonic l i n e s which break the d a c t y l - t r o c h e e / d a c t y l - s p o n d e e
pattern

are a l s o

the

first-person voice.

only
Both

final

lines

i n stanzas

t o assume

the

lines,

So self-communed I
and
Thus I...But

l o , me!

r e s i s t s c a n s i o n e n t i r e l y , but may
a n a c r u s i s and

catalexis

framing

be read as a d a c t y l - t r o c h e e w i t h
the

line.

Such a r e a d i n g would

support Hardy's statement t h a t he knew s a p p h i c s , but d i d not always

f o l l o w the m e t r i c a l r u l e s p r e c i s e l y .

These

problematic

scansions

indicate

that

Hardy,

like

Swinburne, was r e s i s t i n g the p r e c i s e and unbending a p p l i c a t i o n of

a

quantitative

metre

within

an

accentual-syllabic

framework.

U n l i k e "Sapphics," however, Hardy's e f f o r t i s f a r from l i l t i n g and

sonorous: "The Temporary
awkward i n p l a c e s .
the

metrical

the A l l "

i s h a l t i n g , e c c e n t r i c and even

Yet, i t i s not so much Hardy's t i n k e r i n g w i t h

structure

as

i t i s h i s admixture of

sounds

that

undermines a p o t e n t i a l l y smooth and r e c o g n i z a b l e rhythm.

Like

"Sapphics,"

assonance

and

the poem has no

alliteration

Hardy's c h o i c e

to provide

of a l l i t e r a t i n g

end-rhyme and
sound

depends

continuity.

consonants r e f l e c t s

on

Yet,

l e s s concern

than Swinburne w i t h the de-emphasis of harsh consonants which break

up

vowel

sounds.

Hardy's

opening

alliteration

c h a n c e f u l n e s s " i s abrupt and choppy, as i s " d e s p i t e

the

and

divergence";

predominance of the hard d i n "fused us i n f r i e n d s h i p " and " d i d

a damsel s a u n t e r " a l s o c r e a t e s a break.

the

"change

A t e n s i o n e x i s t s between

d i c t i o n and sound of words which i s not p r e s e n t i n Swinburne's

poem; t h i s t e n s i o n c o n t r i b u t e s t o a l e s s g r a c e f u l poem, but a l s o a

phonically

richer

one.

While

Swinburne's

sapphics

lull

mesmerize l i k e the S i r e n s ' songs, Hardy's v e r s e i n i t i a l l y

and

then f a s c i n a t e s

verbal

the reader w i t h

eccentricity.

obvious

success

However,

i s not,

as

i t s metrical

asserts,

the

puzzles

ambiguity and

the poem's unevenness

Davie

and

and

product

less
of

an

a u t o d i d a c t whose v e r s e form " m i r r o r s a c r u e l s e l f - d r i v i n g , a shape

imposed on t h e m a t e r i a l " (Davie 16, h i s emphasis), but r a t h e r t h a t
of

poet

whose

intricate

knowledge

of

traditional

prosody

sometimes

cramped

t h e freedom of h i s l i n e .

Hardy was i n s p i r e d by

the p o t e n t i a l o f E n g l i s h v e r s e r a t h e r than d r i v e n by a d e s i r e t o
master i t on h i s own terms, and t o d e s c r i b e h i s s t y l e as something
"imposed"
respect

on language does
f o r and

not a c c u r a t e l y

knowledge

of

English

reflect

prosody,

h i s profound
nor

does i t

adequately r e c o g n i z e t h e s u b t l e t y o f h i s own prosody.

Hardy's s e l f - t e a c h i n g i s , however, an important element which
c o n t r i b u t e s t o the e c c e n t r i c i t y of t h i s sapphic verse.
instruction
opposed

to

literature.

i n Greek

d i d not begin u n t i l

Swinburne's

early

h i s e a r l y t w e n t i e s , as

immersion

i n the

H i s a c q u i s i t i o n of knowledge

c u l t u r e was n e c e s s a r i l y

less

systematic,

His self-

language

and

about t h e language and

rigorous

and complete.

The s t r u c t u r e and sound of h i s s a p p h i c s r e f l e c t s t h e i n d i v i d u a l i t y

and

independence

reflects

of h i s education,

t h e depth

training.

and

breadth

"Sapphics" r e f l e c t s

of

just

as

Swinburne's

h i s systematic

poem

classical

a profound u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f and

s e n s i t i v i t y t o Greek prosody and i t s p o t e n t i a l t o be r e p l i c a t e d i n

E n g l i s h v e r s e ; t h e s a p p h i c form i s o r g a n i c t o t h e sound and sense
of t h e poem.

"The Temporary t h e A l l , " on t h e o t h e r hand,

exhibits

a t e n s i o n between t h e form i n s p i r e d by Greek prosody, t h e t e x t u r e

of E n g l i s h d i c t i o n and t h e p h i l o s o p h i c a l ideas Hardy was s t r i v i n g
t o convey.

In t h e b a t t l e between sound and meaning,

n e i t h e r has

won out i n t h i s s a p p h i c experiment, but t h e l a c k o f a v i c t o r makes

f o r a m e t r i c a l l y i n t r i c a t e and p h i l o s o p h i c a l l y c o m p e l l i n g poem.

53

V.
In

h i s study

of

Thomas

speculates that the t r i s y l l a b i c

Hardy's

prosody,

Dennis

s u b s t i t u t i o n s o f " N e u t r a l Tones"

may have been i n s p i r e d by Hardy's work w i t h t h e sapphic

suggests

Taylor

t h a t t h e poem "has a much more i n t e r e s t i n g

form; he

mixture

of

iambs and d a c t y l s , perhaps r e m i n i s c e n t t o Hardy o f t h e d a c t y l s and

trochees
"mixture"
latter

i n sapphics"

(261).

Although

t h e poem does c o n t a i n a

o f duple and t r i p l e rhythms, i t i s d i f f i c u l t t o see t h e

as f a l l i n g

rather

than

rising,

c o n n e c t i o n with t h e sapphic form.

or t o p e r c e i v e

any r e a l

The i n t e n t of t h i s poem i s not

so much t o mimic an e s t a b l i s h e d form as t o generate

through f r e e

a n a p a e s t i c s u b s i t i t u t i o n a new and s t a r t l i n g l y e f f e c t i v e form based

on t h e iambic

quatrain.

In an e a r l y study

o f Hardy's v e r s e ,

t h a t "though he i n v e n t e d stanzas,

Samuel Hynes commented

[Hardy] never ventured

f a r from

the iambic norm which had been the standard E n g l i s h rhythm f o r f o u r

centuries,"

surmising

i n explanation

that

perhaps

m e t r i c a l l y l e s s r a d i c a l than t h e o t h e r s . . . " (79).

Hardy

"was

Hardy's " N e u t r a l

Tones" i s o n l y one o f many poems which r e f u t e Hynes on both p o i n t s .

The poem's base rhythm i s iambic, but o n l y m a r g i n a l l y so, and i n a
f a s h i o n t h a t i s not a t a l l t y p i c a l o f the "norm": n e a r l y h a l f o f
the f e e t a r e a n a p a e s t i c s u b s t i t u t i o n s , an u n u s u a l l y h i g h r a t i o .

By

so f r e e l y and almost e q u a l l y exchanging anapaests and iambs, Hardy

has

c r e a t e d a metre which c h a l l e n g e s

t h e iambic

"norm" f a r more

than conforms t o i t ; t h e poem r e c a l l s s e v e r a l w r i t t e n by Swinburne

54
in

the

late

1860s

in

which

he

was

experimenting

j u x t a p o s i t i o n o f duple and t r i p l e rhythms.

of

"Neutral

Swinburne's

Tones"
verse

i s perhaps one
had

on

the

The m e t r i c a l t e c h n i q u e

more example

Hardy's.

with

Considered

of t h e
in

effect

light

of

Swinburne's s e v e r a l experiments w i t h the j u x t a p o s i t i o n of duple and

t r i p l e rhythms, " N e u t r a l Tones" appears more c l e a r l y as an example
of

Hardy's

syllabic

ambitious

and

energetic

attempt

t o meet

accentual-

challenges.
The p r o s o d i c laws of a c c e n t u a l - s y l l a b i c v e r s e have always

d i s c o u r a g e d u n r e s t r a i n e d use of s u b s t i t u t i o n because such use c o u l d

d e s t r o y t h e c o n s i s t e n c y of t h e u n d e r l y i n g v e r s e rhythm.

A study of

E n g l i s h metre w r i t t e n i n 192 3 a l l o w s t h a t t r i s y l l a b i c f e e t may

substituted i f :

be

a) t h e two u n s t r e s s e d s y l l a b l e s a r e l i g h t and can

be pronounced r a p i d l y ,

so t h a t the t r i p l e

f o o t o c c u p i e s the same

time as a duple f o o t , and b) the s t r e s s e d and u n s t r e s s e d s y l l a b l e s

keep

the same r e l a t i v e

smoothness

position

of t r i s y l l a b i c

(Smith

substitution

38) .
may

In a d d i t i o n ,

be enhanced

the

by vowel

c o a l e s c e n c e , e l i s i o n of vowel and consonant and the b r i d g i n g of two

words by the t r i p l e f o o t
Swinburne's
Ballads

a r e two

"An

(Smith, passim).

Interlude"

and

"Les Noyades"

o f many poems which

combining d u p l e and t r i p l e rhythms.

from Poems &

demonstrate h i s s k i l l

in

Both are a n a p a e s t i c , but w i t h

f r e e and almost equal numbers of iambic f e e t , t h e m i r r o r image of

" N e u t r a l Tones."

In the f i r s t stanza of "An I n t e r l u d e , "

f e e t a r e iambic:
x
x
i
x
i
x
x.
i
x
In t h e greenest growth of the Maytime,

s i x o f 12

55
*

x.

'

I rode where the woods were wet,

x

Between the dawn and the daytime;

x

The s p r i n g was g l a d t h a t we

met.

The second s t a n z a c o n t a i n s f i v e iambs, t h e t h i r d ,

eight.

four, the fourth,

Reading t h e s e poems, Hardy would have remarked - as c r i t i c s

d i d - t h e smoothness o f the t r a n s i t i o n from one rhythm t o the next,

the

c o n s i s t e n t and s t r o n g sense of the base t r i p l e rhythm d e s p i t e

the

numbers of duple f e e t , and the a p p r o p r i a t e a d a p t a t i o n of t r i p l e

rhythm t o a s e r i o u s and solemn s u b j e c t .

Almost w i t h o u t e x c e p t i o n ,

the

triple
feet
i n these two poems: e i t h e r
I
x. x
i
x,
x,
(Marjvellous
mercies),
vowel
coalesence
(me
x

alliteration
i

(where

the

woods),

or

bridge

employ
elision
x
X,
as A p j r i l )
or

two

words

(In the

g r e e n | e s t growth), i n order t o compress the t r i p l e f o o t as much as

possible.
the

Swinburne's t e c h n i q u e seems t o a l l o w the poem t o s u s t a i n

triple

rhythm

by b r i n g i n g

b a s i c iambic rhythm.

i t in line

w i t h t h e speed o f the

The c o n s i s t e n t and f r e e a l t e r n a t i o n

between

iambs and anapaests c r e a t e s a v i t a l and v a r i e d movement, and slows

the

pace

of the t r i p l e

rhythm

enough

to free

i t of

any

comic

effect.
Hardy a p p l i e s the same p r i n c i p l e of f r e e exchange of duple and
t r i p l e rhythms i n " N e u t r a l Tones," but i n t r o d u c e s some d i f f e r e n c e s .
His

choice

of

iambic

as the base

rhythm

yields

slower, more

c o n t e m p l a t i v e pace, and h i s anapaests are not always as smooth as

t h o s e o f Swinburne.

He does, however, resemble Swinburne

b r i d g i n g o f words w i t h t r i p l e

feet

in his

(as though chid|den) i n n e a r l y

x x I
h a l f o f the anapaests, and a l s o i n h i s use o f e l i s i o n (by a pond)

and, l e s s seldom, vowel c o a l e s c e n c e

Six
attempts

of the t r i p l e
t o "smooth"

feet

K K

(tedjious

56

ridjdles).

i n t h e poem do not demonstrate any

the t r a n s i t i o n
x x

from

duple
x

rhythm.

For

example, i n l i n e s 8-9, "on which l o s t , " "by our l o v e " and "on your
i

mouth" a l l scan as anapaests, but have n o t been c o n s t r u c t e d t o move

quickly.
the

These and o t h e r elongated t r i p l e f e e t serve t o r e i n f o r c e

contemplative,

"Neutral

Tones"

even

hesitant

i n juxtaposition

tone
with

o f t h e poem.
Swinburne's

Scanning

two poems o f

s i m i l a r m e t r i c a l shape c r e a t e s t h e d i s t i n c t impression t h a t i n t h e
dilemma

between form and content, Swinburne more o f t e n chose t h e

former,

and Hardy

the l a t t e r .

Such a c o n s c i o u s

o r unconscious

c h o i c e by Hardy may have i n v o l v e d a s a c r i f i c e o f f l u i d i t y ,

the i m p r e s s i o n
with

rich

experience

of t e c h n i c a l

abilities,

semantic t e x t u r e

but t h e r e s u l t

recording

an

and o f

i s a poem

intensely

personal

( B a i l e y 56).

The c l e a r e s t understanding of Hardy's m e t r i c a l i n t e n t might be

accomplished by c o n s i d e r i n g t h e poem i n terms o f temporal r a t h e r
than s y l l a b i c r e g u l a r i t y .
foot

Measuring t h e p h o n e t i c d u r a t i o n o f each

i n addition to identifying

impression

of

evenness

and

i t s m e t r i c a l value r e s u l t s
consistency.

"Neutral

i n an
Tones"

demonstrates t h a t Hardy was, i n f a c t , a poet who r e s p e c t e d laws o f

prosody and c h a l l e n g e d t h e v a r i e t y o f t h e i r a p p l i c a t i o n .

T h i s poem

a l t e r s t h e iambic q u a t r a i n rhyming abba which Tennyson e s t a b l i s h e d

as a norm, through t h e f r e e use o f t r i s y l l a b i c s u b s t i t u t i o n and a
s l i g h t l y shortened f i n a l

l i n e i n each s t a n z a .

57

VI.
Rhyme, Hardy read i n t h e p r e f a c e t o h i s Rhyming D i c t i o n a r y , i s
"the

purple

band

on t h e p r i n c e l y

toga

o f t h e poet,"

verse

ornament "unknown t o t h e Anglo-Saxon poet" whose primary adornment

was

alliteration,

but g r a d u a l l y

adapted

b e g i n n i n g i n medieval times (Walker x l i i ) .

into

English

poetry

Hardy's purchase o f t h e

rhyming d i c t i o n a r y i n 1865 was p a r t o f h i s m e t h o d i c a l p r e p a r a t i o n

as a poet

( M i l l g a t e 87), and t h e appearance o f Poems & B a l l a d s i n

1866

f o r him a

was

stunning

contemporary

example

o f rhyme's

p o t e n t i a l f o r i n t r i c a c y ; u n t i l that point, the understated

sound

p a t t e r n s o f Tennyson's v e r s e were s e t t i n g t h e standard f o r rhymes

of l i m i t e d complexity and o r i g i n a l i t y
Exotic

Forms

Rubaivat

of Verse"

71) .

(Gosse,

F o r example,

"A P l e a F o r C e r t a i n
while

Fitzgerald's

of Omar Khayyam had been p u b l i s h e d i n 1859, i n t e r e s t i n

i t s i n t r i c a t e P e r s i a n stanzas d i d not become widespread u n t i l a f t e r

h i s death

i n 1883 ( T a y l o r 233).

Poems & B a l l a d s and Swinburne's

l a t e r volumes a l l c o n t a i n a r i c h v a r i e t y o f rhyme - i n c l u d i n g an
a d a p t a t i o n o f t h e Rubaivat

stanza - and h i s e f f o r t s

i n this

area

were acknowledged by Hardy i n t h e copying o f v a r i o u s rhyme schemes

and

adaptations of others

(see above).

Swinburne's work drew on

many c e n t u r i e s o f examples o f rhyming i n E n g l i s h and C o n t i n e n t a l

v e r s e and o f f e r e d Hardy contemporary, p u b l i s h e d examples o f rhyme's
p o t e n t i a l and c h a l l e n g e .
An

exhaustive

study

o f Swinburne and Hardys use o f rhyme

would be e x t e n s i v e , f o r both poets experimented

and adapted w i d e l y .

58
Their

poetry

patterns

serves

found

as

i n sonnets,

catalogue
ballads,

of

the

standard

end-rhyme

h e r o i c c o u p l e t s and

certain

e x o t i c forms of v e r s e t r a n s p l a n t e d from I t a l y and France, as w e l l

as more o r i g i n a l p a t t e r n s they developed themselves.
they

explored

experimenting
rhyme.
of

the

possibilities

of

other

In a d d i t i o n ,

repeated

patterns,

i n the use of assonance, a l l i t e r a t i o n and

internal

I w i l l not be conducting here a f u l l a n a l y s i s of t h e i r

rhyme;

however,

this

study

of

their

verse

form

use

would

be

incomplete without some comments on the g e n e r a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of

t h e i r r e p e a t e d sound p a t t e r n s .
One

of

the

most

prominent

f e a t u r e s of

the

verse

Swinburne and Hardy i s the e x t e n s i v e use of a l t e r n a t i n g

and

feminine

rhyme.

T h i s technique

was

employed

of

both

masculine

f r e q u e n t l y by

Swinburne i n Poems & B a l l a d s ( F i r s t S e r i e s ) i n , among o t h e r s ,

Garden of P r o s e r p i n e , "
subsequent

"An I n t e r l u d e , " and " D o l o r e s , " and a l s o i n

alternating

p a t t e r n i n "At

C a s t l e B o t e r e l , " "In T e n e b r i s I I I , " "The F i d d l e r , "

and many other

poems.

volumes.

"The

By

Hardy uses the

alternating

masculine

and

feminine

rhymes,

he

and

Swinburne were a b l e t o e n r i c h the t e x t u r e of sounds and v a r y s t r e s s

patterns.
indicate

Hardy
the

discussion
shifts

from

in

shift

of

"At

particular
of

mood

or

often
tone

Castle Boterel,"

masculine

examples of t e c h n i c a l

to

feminine

uses
from

above),

feminine
line

to

while

rhyme
line

to
(see

Swinburne's

seem more o f t e n t o be

purely

virtuosity.

T h e i r e x t e n s i v e use of t r i p l e rhythms l e n t both Swinburne and

Hardy the o p p o r t u n i t y t o take the double rhymes of feminine

endings

59
one

step

further.

Swinburne's i s o l a t e d

use

of t r i p l e

rhyme i n

" D o l o r e s " and Hardy's i n "The V o i c e " demonstrate t h e i r w i l l i n g n e s s

to

apply

elegiac

forms
or

Dictionary

conventionally

dramatic

verse.

does not

c o n t a i n s no

associated
The

12

mention t r i p l e

preface
rhyme,

examples of t h i s type;

"Dolores" presented

with

comic

to

verse

Hardy's

and

to

Rhyming

his early

poetry

i t i s entirely possible that

Hardy w i t h h i s f i r s t

t r i p l e rhyme a p p l i e d t o a s e r i o u s s u b j e c t .

contemporary example of
I f so, i t i s an example

which he adapted a p p r o p r i a t e l y and s u c c e s s f u l l y i n "The

Voice."

Hardy and Swinburne a l s o shared an i n t e r e s t i n employing rhyme

t o u n i f y the

stanzas

distinguishing
final

of a poem.

f e a t u r e of a P e r s i a n stanza

Flirt's

standard
word.

Tragedy"

refrain
In

"The

line

Cicely,"

( T a y l o r 233),
by

Mother

"The

for

example,

v a r i a t i o n s of the rhyme word " l a n e , " producing

which

i s both

refrain

line.

more

intricate

and

primary

i n which

all

Hardy wrote t h r e e
Mother Mourns"

a l l of which v a r y

employing d i f f e r e n t
Mourns,"

i s the

form,

l i n e s of stanzas rhyme w i t h each o t h e r .

poems i n t h i s abcD p a t t e r n , "My

"The

T h i s technique

from

forms of the
Hardy

than

Swinburne produced a s i m i l a r e f f e c t

the

rhyme

employs

a unifying

more v a r i o u s

and

that

21

effect
of

i n "Dolores,"

although h i s i s o n l y a l o o s e a d a p t a t i o n of t h i s P e r s i a n p r i n c i p l e .
In

"Dolores,"

each e i g h t - l i n e

stanza

f o l l o w s the

ababcdcd rhyme

p a t t e r n , w i t h an e i g h t h r e f r a i n l i n e , "Our Lady of P a i n " completing

Comic a p p l i c a t i o n s of t r i p l e rhyme such as Byron's i n Don
Juan were more the r u l e , or l i m i t a t i o n , i n the n i n e t e e n t h century.
T r i p l e rhyme was, however, a f e a t u r e of medieval L a t i n v e r s e ;
Sydney mentioned i t i n the Defense of P o e s i e and used i t i n
Arcadia.
12

every other s t a n z a .

In these a l t e r n a t i n g stanzas, the s i x t h

offer

v a r i a t i o n s on the rhyme word " p a i n . " I t

a total

of 28

lines

o n l y be a c o i n c i d e n c e t h a t Hardy's poem, composed much l a t e r

may
than

Swinburne's, uses the same rhyme ending and even employs s e v e r a l of

the same words.
"Dolores"

and

interested

In any case, the t a n g e n t i a l s i m i l a r i t i e s between

"A

Mother

Mourns"

i n the p o t e n t i a l

indicate that

both

f o r v a r i a t i o n s of the

poets

were

same sound

to

u n i f y the poem.
The

potential

f o r l i n k a g e of stanzas

e x p l o r e d by both poets.

Swinburne rhymes the t h i r d

stanzas,

the

and

also

In "Laus V e n e r i s " (Poems & B a l l a d s . F i r s t

Series),

third

through rhyme was

l i n e of the f i r s t

f o u r t h stanzas,

and

so f o r t h

and

second

- which

unrhymed w i t h i n t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l stanzas - c r e a t i n g an e f f e c t ,

are
to

use S a i n t s b u r y ' s d e s c r i p t i o n , of each a l t e r n a t i n g s t a n z a " [ h o l d i n g ]

out

a feeler

t o the next."

Hardy composed a f a r more e l a b o r a t e

v e r s i o n of l i n k i n g rhyme i n " F r i e n d s Beyond,"

rima, as used by Dante i n the D i v i n e Comedy.

specifically terza
In " F r i e n d s Beyond,"

the second l i n e of each t h r e e - l i n e stanza rhymes w i t h the f i r s t

third

and

l i n e s of the subsequent stanza, r e s u l t i n g i n the l i n k i n g of

one s t a n z a w i t h the next without the c l o s u r e of Swinburne's rhyming

pairs.

Each s t a n z a i n t r o d u c e s a rhyme word which l i n k s i t t o the

f o l l o w i n g s t a n z a , c r e a t i n g a s u c c e s s i o n of l i n k i n g rhymes.

Hardy

i d e n t i f i e d the t e r z a rima as one of Swinburne's f a v o u r i t e s . E i t h e r

Swinburne

indicated his

c o n v e r s a t i o n s they had,
own

connection

between

preference

in

one

of

or Hardy i s u n c o n s c i o u s l y
Swinburne's

rhyme

the

few

private

identifying his

pattern

and

his

own

61
v e r s i o n of t e r z a

rima.

Swinburne's and Hardy's wide-ranging e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n w i t h and

invention

of rhyme p a t t e r n s was

undoubtedly

i n f l u e n c e d by

their

i n t e r e s t i n v a r i o u s other e x o t i c forms which enjoyed a r e n a i s s a n c e

i n England
Magazine

i n the l a s t h a l f of the c e n t u r y .

article

by

Edmund

E x o t i c Forms of Verse,"
and e x p l a i n e d why

Gosse

In the 1877

entitled

"A

Plea

For

Certain

Gosse i n t r o d u c e d s e v e r a l forms of v e r s e

he b e l i e v e d contemporary E n g l i s h p o e t r y c o u l d be

e n r i c h e d by more a t t e n t i o n t o i n t r i c a t e rhyme schemes and

patterns.

Cornhill

According

t o Gosse,

" H a l f the

rhythmic

pleasure given to

r e a d e r , h a l f the sense of r i c h n e s s , completeness,

the

and grace which

he vaguely p e r c e i v e s and u n c o n s c i o u s l y e n j o y s " i s the r e s u l t of the

t e c h n i c a l l a b o u r s of a poet who
forms.

s t r u g g l e s t o master i n t r i c a t e rhyme

"In s p i t e of M i l t o n , i n s p i t e of Tennyson," Gosse a s s e r t s ,

"the world can never grow too o l d t o be bewitched

rhyme"

(71).

by the s i r e n of

Swinburne and Hardy both seemed t o answer Gosse's

p l e a f o r g r e a t e r i n t r i c a c y of rhyme: Swinburne w i t h h i s two poems

entitled
collection

"Rondel"
A

in

Century

Poems
of

&

Ballads

Roundels

(First

(1883),

and

Series)

and

the

Hardy

with

his

e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n w i t h and a d a p t a t i o n of the v i l l a n e l l e , t r i o l e t
v a r i o u s forms of the rondeau.
in

these

forms

demonstrates

13

The

their

two

poets' p a r a l l e l

ability

to

and

interest

construct highly

c o n t r o l l e d v e r s e , and t h e i r d e s i r e t o t e s t the l i m i t s of rhyme i n

See "The Caged Thrush Freed and Home Again" ( v i l l a n e l l e ) ;

"How g r e a t my g r i e f " and "The Coquette and A f t e r " ( t r i o l e t s ) ; and,
"The
Roman Road" and
"The
Skies F l i n g
Flame," i n Dynasts
(rondeaux).
13

62
English

by

using

forms

more

easily

constructed

in

romance

languages.
Of t h e s e forms, t h e rondeau and i t s v a r i a n t s have t h e most
diverse
roundels

application

i n their

i s an admirable

verse.

tour

de

Swinburne's
force,

c o l l e c t i o n of

displaying

technical

b r i l l i a n c e i n i t s a b i l i t y t o mould and shape language as w e l l as t o

restrict

his typically

"broad and sweeping

measures"

w i t h one-

hundred poems i n t h i s " r i g i d l y determined f i x e d form" (Gosse, L i f e

266-7).

H i s " r o u n d e l , " a term which was used by Chaucer and o t h e r s

as a synonym

f o r t h e rondeau,

rondeau's f i r s t
long

and a l s o

(Rooksby 251).
is

and t h i r d

trims

one l i n e

from

each

of the

s t a n z a s t o produce a poem e l e v e n

moves t h e r e f r a i n

from

line

eight

to line

lines
four

Gosse's d e s c r i p t i o n o f i t as " r i g i d l y determined"

not e n t i r e l y

accurate,

f o r the roundels vary

i n the metrical

p a t t e r n and t h e p o s i t i o n and l e n g t h o f t h e r e f r a i n

line

(Rooksby

252) .
Hardy's v a r i a t i o n s on the rondeau were f a r more e x t e n s i v e and
c o u l d be s a i d t o r e p r e s e n t i n t e r e s t i n g v a r i a t i o n s i n t h e h i s t o r y o f
the

form

(Taylor

adaptations

253).

o f h i s rondeaux

are s t r i c t

("The Roman Road," "Midnight on Beechen,

187-," and

"The S k i e s F l i n g Flame"
adaptations
Out

While t h r e e

i n Dynasts), many o t h e r s a r e much l o o s e r

( T a y l o r 252).

f o r Lyonnesse"

For example,

i n 1924, Hardy

i n d e s c r i b i n g "When I Set

called

i t "one o f t h e many

v a r i e t i e s o f Roundelay, Roundel, o r Rondel" ( B a i l e y 270).

The poem

i s i n t h r e e s t a n z a s and opens and c l o s e s each s t a n z a w i t h t h e same

l i n e , u s i n g o n l y two rhymes i n each s t a n z a , but not t h e same rhymes

i n a l l s t a n z a s ( T a y l o r 253).

Hardy's v a r i a t i o n s on t h i s r e p e t i t i o n

of l i n e s o f t h e rondeau go even f u r t h e r i n many poems which r e p e a t

initial

l i n e s as r e f r a i n l i n e s ,

i n c l u d i n g "She R e v i s i t s

Alone..."

and "By H e n s t r i d g e C r o s s " ( T a y l o r 254), although they do l i m i t two

rhymes p e r s t a n z a .

H i s departures from t h e rondeau norm a r e more

s i g n i f i c a n t than those o f Swinburne, and suggest a more i m a g i n a t i v e

and f l e x i b l e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e p r i n c i p l e s o f l i n e r e p e t i t i o n and
refrain.
Perhaps
contemporaries,

more

thoroughly

than

any

Hardy and Swinburne experimented

other

of

their

w i t h an e x t e n s i v e

v a r i e t y o f end rhyme p a t t e r n s , and t h i s e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n s e r v e s as

an important a d j u n c t t o t h e i r m e t r i c a l accomplishments.
of end-rhyme added a l a y e r o f i n t r i c a c y

and complexity

which was a l r e a d y a l a b y r i n t h o f m e t r i c a l p a t t e r n s .
numerous o r i g i n a l

T h e i r use
t o verse

And y e t , t h e i r

a p p l i c a t i o n s of standard rhyming p a t t e r n s a l s o

i n d i c a t e t h a t they d i d not view t h i s e x t r a l a y e r o f i n t r i c a c y as an

incumbrance t o t h e i r

freedom.

Rather,

i t was a c h a l l e n g e which

t r a n s l a t e d i n t o t h e freedom o f i n v e n t i o n .

64

VII.

In h i s r e c o l l e c t i o n s

of h i s e a r l y days

i n London

i n Early

L i f e . Hardy makes s e v e r a l r e f e r e n c e s t o Swinburne which suggest a

d i s t i n c t d e s i r e t o a s s o c i a t e h i m s e l f c l o s e l y w i t h t h e man he l a t e r
termed as a " b r o t h e r - p o e t "
of a r e s t a u r a n t

called

a f t e r Hardy frequented

(Later Years 135).

"Newton House"

Westbourne

Swinburne..."
Weymouth, he

Park V i l l a s
(65).

he was

himself

and f a l l i n g

morning sun" (84) .

"a few

years

"during p a r t of h i s r e s i d e n c e
living

within

h a l f a mile

of

And, i n h i s d e p i c t i o n of the summer spent i n

presented

swimmer.. . r i s i n g

that

i t Swinburne used t o dine t h e r e . . . " (55).

S e v e r a l pages l a t e r he o f f e r s t h a t
at

he s a i d

In h i s d e s c r i p t i o n

as

with

"being

the t i d e

like

Swinburne

- a

i n t h e warmth of the

These r e f e r e n c e s seem t o be attempts on Hardy's

p a r t t o a l i g n h i m s e l f as a contemporary and companion o f Swinburne,

emphasizing

that

they

lived,

and

t h e r e f o r e worked,

i n the same

context.
In f a c t , t h e i r a s s o c i a t i o n goes much deeper than having

dined

i n t h e same r e s t a u r a n t , or shared an i n t e r e s t i n swimming; Hardy's

r e f e r e n c e s a r e j u s t one more example of h i s c u r i o u s and
method

f o r revealing truths

poetry

meant

provided

an

unquestionably
and

plastic

a great
example

deal
more

about h i m s e l f .

t o Hardy,
than

an

enigmatic

Swinburne

but the poet

influence.

and h i s

and h i s work
Hardy

was

i n s p i r e d by the man f o r whom "every metre was d o c i l e

i n h i s hands"

(Leith

32) , and

who

endured

savage

65
criticism

f o r t h e sake o f h i s a r t .

"There i s no new p o e t r y , "

said

Hardy, "but t h e new poet - i f he c a r r y t h e flame on f u r t h e r . . . comes

with

a new note.

And t h a t

new note

c r i t i c a l waters" (Later Years 78).

a

description

companions

o f both

i n their

i t i s that

Hardy's words can be a p p l i e d t o

h i s and Swinburne's

desire

t o "carry

careers;

t h e flame

against
was
by

yet,

each

man met w i t h

complacency.

mixed

success

they

norms.

i n h i s campaign

I n i t i a l l y h a i l e d by t h e c r i t i c s ,

soon i n i l l repute f o r h i s d e f i a n c e
t h e end o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h

century

were

on f u r t h e r " by

t e s t i n g p o e t i c conventions and c h a l l e n g i n g p r o s o d i c
And

troubles the

Swinburne

o f moral c o n s t r a i n t s , and

h i s b r i g h t s t a r had faded.

Today, Swinburne i s s t u d i e d i n f r e q u e n t l y , and h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o

prosody

a r e seldom r e c o g n i z e d .

Why?

He was perhaps i n p a r t a

v i c t i m o f a phenomenon which Hardy d e s c r i b e d

As

t o reviewing.

exceptions,
as

such,

artistic
secret

Apart

i s , as

Years:

from a few b r i l l i a n t

p o e t r y i s not a t bottom
that

i n Later

criticized

particular

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of l i f e ,

man's

but w i t h a

eye on i t s t h e o l o g i c a l and p o l i t i c a l

propriety.

Swinburne used t o say t o me t h a t

so i t would be two thousand y e a r s hence; but I

doubt i t .

(183)

Perhaps Swinburne's r e p u t a t i o n c o u l d never r e c o v e r

criticism

from t h e savage

o f h i s ' t h e o l o g i c a l and p o l i t i c a l p r o p r i e t y , ' but such a

long-lasting

and n e a r l y

c o u l d be t h a t c r i t i c i s m

permanent condemnation
of t h e p a s t century

i s unlikely.

It

has f u l f i l l e d Hardy's

66
e x p e c t a t i o n and judged
artistic

Swinburne's p o e t r y

interpretation

of

life'

'as a p a r t i c u l a r man's

which

was

uncomfortable

or

unpalatable.
Even one o f Swinburne's g r e a t e s t champions, George S a i n t s b u r y ,
identified

a weakness i n h e r e n t i n Swinburne which may

partially

e x p l a i n h i s faded r e p u t a t i o n :
. . . h i s e x t r a o r d i n a r y command o f metre has l e d
him t o make new and ever

new experiments i n

i t . . . t o p l a n sea-serpents i n v e r s e i n order t o
show how

easily

and g r a c e f u l l y

he can make

them c o i l and u n c o i l t h e i r enormous l e n g t h , t o

build

mastadons

admire....In
nay

too

other

often,

of

metre

words,

that

we

may

he has sometimes,

forgotten

the

end

e x u l t i n g i n h i s command o f t h e means

while
(Essays

v o l . 2 222).
Another o f Swinburne's g r e a t admirers, Hardy, a l s o appears t o have
acknowledged Swinburne's f i x a t i o n on technique
his

poetry's

following

p h i l o s o p h i c a l substance.

phrase

from

an October

"...Swinburne,

i f he

interpretation

of l i f e "

Hardy's e l l i p s i s ) .

(quoted

In 1898, he c o p i e d t h e

29 a r t i c l e

live...mastery

a t t h e expense of

i n the Spectator:

o f words,

i n Literary

rather

any

Notebooks v o l . 2 71,

A 1909 e n t r y i n L i t e r a r y Notebooks ( v o l . 2 239)

demonstrates t h a t he had read

an a r t i c l e

on Swinburne

S p e c t a t o r o f A p r i l 17:
That

than

i s why

h i s verse,

which

at

first

from t h e

67
a s t o n i s h e s us
the

end

by

is

apt

unsatisfying.
too

little

his perfection
to

weary

of

sound, i n

and

prove

There i s too much a r t i f i c e

inspiration.

("Swinburne

and

as

Master of Metre" 605-606)

Hardy's

notes

hint

that

t e c h n i c a l v i r t u o s i t y was

he,

like

Saintsbury,

perceived

admirable, indeed necessary, but c o u l d

alone produce p o e t r y of l a s t i n g i n t e r e s t and v i t a l i t y .

a

letter

to

Florence

Henniker

Swinburne the g r e a t e r w r i t e r

in

comments

1909,

"This

is

He

not

said in

what

makes

[than M e r e d i t h ] , though he i s much the

s m a l l e r t h i n k e r : he knew so w e l l how
Hardy's

that

musicality

of

Swinburne's v e r s e appealed t o him a g r e a t d e a l , but t h a t he was

not

impressed w i t h

show

that

t o a p p e a l " ( L e t t e r s v o l . 4 24) .
the

rhythmic

i t s corresponding r e p e t i t i v e n e s s

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of

life.

and

rather

empty

In h i s eagerness t o conduct r a d i c a l

and

c o m p e l l i n g m e t r i c a l experiments, and t o demonstrate h i s command of

metre, Swinburne c r e a t e d

v e r s e of t e c h n i c a l p e r f e c t i o n .

But

the

unending and p e r s i s t e n t m u s i c a l i t y of Swinburne's v e r s e u l t i m a t e l y

reflects

a v i s i o n of

p r o f o u n d l y empty.
and

life

This

as

dull,

r e p e t i t i o u s and

i s a v i s i o n which does not

perhaps even
offer lasting

i n t r i g u i n g a n a l y s i s , and which i s not echoed i n the v e r s e which

Hardy composed throughout h i s

Unfortunately,

Hardy's

life.
richer

interpretations

of

life

r e f l e c t e d p a r t l y i n h i s uneven, enigmatic a p p l i c a t i o n of prosody were a l s o i l l - t r e a t e d by c r i t i c s .

t o t e c h n i q u e was

Hardy f e l t t h a t h i s own

not w e l l understood:

approach

68
The reviewer so o f t e n supposes t h a t where a r t
i s not v i s i b l e i t i s unknown t o the poet under
criticism.
of

Why

does he not t h i n k of the a r t

concealing art?

why.

There

( L a t e r Years

i s a good

reason

184)

Hardy's d e l i b e r a t e l y unorthodox a p p l i c a t i o n of p r o s o d i c t e c h n i q u e s
has been f o r y e a r s p r o f o u n d l y misunderstood
ignorance or poor t r a i n i n g .
context

of

Swinburne's

as a r e f l e c t i o n of h i s

But an a n a l y s i s of h i s p o e t r y i n the

shows

that

he

was

in

fact

Swinburne's u n c o n v e n t i o n a l p r a c t i c e s one step f u r t h e r .

the

principles

of

substitution

and

metrical

carrying
He a p p l i e d

flexibility

to his

v e r s e , but avoided monotony w i t h an abundance of unorthodox t w i s t s

and t u r n s .
equated

Hardy c a l l e d t h i s

i t architecturally

t r a c e r y , and such l i k e "

Unfortunately,

the

"the p r i n c i p l e of s p o n t a n e i t y " and

with

an

effect

(Later Years

78-9).

potential

e n i g m a t i c p r o s o d i c technique has
r e p u t a t i o n has.
test

the

attempts

Few

bounds

of

critics

for

"found

and

most

have

Hardy's attempts
interpreted

shared w i t h the more r a d i c a l i n n o v a t o r s of h i s

time a c e r t a i n experimental s p i r i t , but he
l e s s extreme and

they....though
ventured

l e s s programmatic

was
than

he i n v e n t e d s t a n z a s , [he] never

f a r from

the

iambic

norm which

to

those

therefore, to

Samuel Hynes has commented t h a t Hardy

both

Hardy's

faded t o g e t h e r w i t h Swinburne's

as a f a i l u r e t o adhere t o convention, and,

tradition.

mouldings,

understanding

have understood

prosody,

in

had

been

t h e standard

centuries.

Perhaps

English

rhythm

he was

f o r four

metrically

less

r a d i c a l than t h e o t h e r s because he was a more

s e l f - t a u g h t poet; whatever t h e reason, he d i d
have

a naive

reverence

f o r , or a t l e a s t

dependence on, t h e forms which he i n h e r i t e d .

(79)
These mistaken
criticism

o b s e r v a t i o n s a r e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f a g r e a t body o f

which

dismisses

Hardy's

experiments

as f a i l u r e s .

In

f a c t , Hardy d i d venture f a r from t h e iambic norm, but he ventured

forward,

building

on t h e g r a d u a l

l o o s e n i n g o f t h e iambic

line.

T h i s l o o s e n i n g of t h e iambic l i n e began w i t h f r e e s u b s t i t u t i o n such

as t h a t accomplished

by Swinburne and perhaps sees

Hardy's bumpy but h i g h l y e x p r e s s i v e rhythms.

forms,

as i n t h e case

o f Swinburne,

i t s zenith i n

H i s use o f i n h e r i t e d

demonstrates

not simply

"naive r e v e r e n c e " f o r t r a d i t i o n , but a r e s p e c t and a d m i r a t i o n f o r ,

as

well

as knowledge

of, the h i s t o r y

o f E n g l i s h prosody.

To

d i s m i s s Hardy as n a i v e does not do j u s t i c e t o h i s a r t , and should

c r i t i c i s m p e r s i s t i n drawing t h i s c o n c l u s i o n , i t would be i g n o r i n g
the g r e a t body o f i n f o r m a t i o n now a v a i l a b l e which v i n d i c a t e s Hardy
as an extremely

l e a r n e d , t h o u g h t f u l and c o n s c i o u s l y

experimental

poet.
Far

from n a i v e , Hardy was a poet

body o f knowledge expressed

of p o e t i c decorum.

whose c a r e f u l l y

assembled

i t s e l f i n an o f t e n misunderstood

sense

Hardy knew t h e r u l e s , and was w i l l i n g t o apply

them, but not i n c o n v e n t i o n a l f a s h i o n .

I t i s possible that h i s

70
knowledge o f and r e s p e c t f o r prosody
his

i s not immediately

evident i n

p o e t r y because h i s r e p u t a t i o n as a n o v e l i s t has a f f e c t e d t h e

a n a l y s i s of h i s verse.
first

Most students o f Hardy encounter him as t h e

critics did - first

difficult

not

to

as n o v e l i s t , then as poet.

allow

h i s prose

voice

to

I t would be

influence

one's

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f h i s p o e t i c v o i c e ; read l i k e prose, and without

consideration

o f t h e experimental

tradition

i n which Hardy

was

composing, h i s m e t r i c a l l y ambiguous and experimental v e r s e does not

sound l i k e p o e t r y .
Unfortunately
tendency
in

perhaps

f o r Hardy,

he

chose

to

avoid the

t o " e x h i b i t h i s l e a r n i n g , or h i s f i n e t a s t e , o r h i s s k i l l

mimicking

t h e notes

of h i s predecessors"

(Early

Life 167).

Instead, he d e l i b e r a t e l y attempted t o c o n s t r u c t v e r s e which was not

pedantic,

but

was

nonetheless

rich

o v e r f l o w i n g w i t h h i s own p e c u l i a r
r e s u l t , h i s knowledge and s k i l l

in

verbal

interpretation

texture

of l i f e .

and
As a

i n prosody have been f o r some time

hidden by t h e c r i t i c a l c o n c l u s i o n t h a t h i s avoidance and r e j e c t i o n

of

c o n v e n t i o n a l prosody

This

conclusion

was a r e s u l t o f h i s i n a b i l i t y t o use i t .

i s most

unfair

t o Hardy,

and has

undoubtedly

p r e c l u d e d much r i c h and s a t i s f y i n g study of h i s v e r s e .

A n a l y s i s o f Hardy's p o e t r y w i t h i n t h e c o n t e x t o f a d e v e l o p i n g
t r a d i t i o n demonstrates t h a t he was c a r r y i n g t h e flame on f u r t h e r ,
t e s t i n g t h e bounds of t h e t r a d i t i o n
was

i n this

desire

to

move

i n which he was t r a i n e d .

forward

that

he

found

companionship w i t h Swinburne, and u l t i m a t e l y surpassed him.

uneven

and

imperfect

rhythms

o f Hardy's

verse

It

poetic
In t h e

resonates

the

71
imperfection

and ambiguity o f t h e human

experience.

Somehow,

Swinburne's s w i r l i n g , t e c h n i c a l l y u p l i f t i n g measures convey a sense

of

unreality

Hardy's

verse

ironically,

and r e p e t i t i v e
which
which

misunderstanding.

emptiness.

produces
is

the

its

rich

source

I t i s t h e humanity o f
and l a s t i n g
of

so

much

appeal, and
critical

72

Works Consulted
B j o r k , Lennart J . "Hardy's Reading." Thomas Hardy: The W r i t e r
and H i s Background. Norman Page, ed. London: B e l l & Hyman,
1980.
Bowra, C M .
"The L y r i c a l Poetry o f Thomas Hardy."
and P o e t r y . London: Macmillan, 1955.

Inspiration

Buchanan, Robert W i l l i a m . The F l e s h l y School o f Poetry and

Other Phemnomena of the Day. N.P.: n.p., 1872.
B u r d e t t , Osbert.
(London), 151

"How
t o Read Swinburne."
(18 A p r i l 1931): 576-77.

Saturday

Review

B u t l e r , A . J . "Mr. Hardy as a Decadent." N a t i o n a l Review (London),

27 (May 1896): 384-90.
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