Embarcation (Southampton Docks: October, 1899)

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



Here, where Vespasian's legions struck the sands,
And Cerdic with his Saxons entered in,
And Henry's army leapt afloat to win
Convincing triumphs over neighbour lands,

Vaster battalions press for further strands,
To argue in the self-same bloody mode
Which this late age of thought, and pact, and code,
Still fails to mend.--Now deckward tramp the bands,
Yellow as autumn leaves, alive as spring;
And as each host draws out upon the sea
Beyond which lies the tragical To-be,
None dubious of the cause, none murmuring,

Wives, sisters, parents, wave white hands and smile,
As if they knew not that they weep the while.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 30, 2023

32 sec read
158

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBA ACCADEED FF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 624
Words 107
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 8, 2

Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy, was not a Scottish Minister, not a Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland nor a Professor of Eccesiastical History at Edinburgh University. more…

All Thomas Hardy poems | Thomas Hardy Books

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