Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IN THE SMALL HOURS, by THOMAS HARDY 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...MEN WHO MARCH AWAY' (SONG OF THE SOLDIERS) by THOMAS HARDY A BROKEN APPOINTMENT by THOMAS HARDY A CHRISTMAS GHOST-STORY; CHRISTMAS-EVE 1899 by THOMAS HARDY A THOUGHT IN TWO MOODS by THOMAS HARDY A THUNDERSTORM IN TOWN by THOMAS HARDY A TRAMPWOMAN'S TRAGEDY by THOMAS HARDY A WIFE IN LONDON by THOMAS HARDY ACCORDING TO THE MIGHTY WORKING by THOMAS HARDY |
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