Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN THE SMALL HOURS, by THOMAS HARDY



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN THE SMALL HOURS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I lay in my bed and fiddled
Last Line: That now, not then, held reign.


I LAY in my bed and fiddled
With a dreamland viol and bow,
And the tunes flew back to my fingers
I had melodied years ago.
It was two or three in the morning
When I fancy-fiddled so
Long reels and country-dances,
And hornpipes swift and slow.

And soon anon came crossing
The chamber in the gray
Figures of jigging fieldfolk --
Saviours of corn and hay --
To the air of "Haste to the Wedding,"
As after a wedding-day;
Yea, up and down the middle
In windless whirls went they!

There danced the bride and bridegroom,
And couples in a train,
Gay partners time and travail
Had longwhiles stilled amain!. . .
It seemed a thing for weeping
To find, at slumber's wane
And morning's sly increeping,
That Now, not Then, held reign.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net