Here we broached the Christmas barrel,
Pushed up the charred log-ends;
Here we sang the Christmas carol,
And called in friends.
Time has tired me since we met here
When the folk now dead were young,
And the viands were outset here
And quaint songs sung.
And the worm has bored the viol
That used to lead the tune,
Rust eaten out the dial
That struck night's noon.
Now no Christmas brings in neighbours,
And the New Year comes unlit;
Where we sang the mole now labours,
And spiders knit.
Yet at midnight if here walking,
When the moon sheets wall and tree,
I see forms of old time talking,
Who smile on me.
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Excellent
An excellent old fashioned poem. I really enjoyed it. It made me feel as though I were on the streets of Ye old England. -
So much brings to me mind that of the ole Christmas times of when all get together to sing and ring out them ole tunes. The last 2 stanzas sort of implies to me personally how all this "getting together" does not seem to be practiced now as often. Can't really tell the implication behind this poem of Hardy, BUT...I loved this piece as it carries a sort of a melancholic tune towards the end. A great poem~
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A viol, is any member of the 'viol' family, Viola, violin, chello?
The way that I see this stanza is...
And the worm has bored the viol
That used to lead the tune,
The worm, I believe represents how things decompose, the spirit of the day (the tune) has died along with the participants.
'Time has tired me since we met here
When the folk now dead were young,'
The second part...
'Rust eaten out the dial
That struck night's noon.'
As time has 'eaten' out the dial, night's noon, (midnight) could not come, so the day is lost in the past.
I love this poem, its sad and mournful, but jam packed with atmosphere.
Andrew -
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Ah this was nice. I am a bit confused as to the meaning of this stanza:
And the worm has bored the viol
That used to lead the tune,
Rust eaten out the dial
That struck night's noon.
I wonder what the worm represents, and I have never heard of a 'viol.' that is the only part that confuzzled me in this otherwise excellent poem.
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I agree – nice imagery but it must be me or the hour… the second half of the couplet seems short of a syllable in each stanza… sorry Tom, I’ll come back in the day time.
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I accidentally clicked on this because of the INCREDIBLY long title but I'm not sorry. Hardy is an amazing writer and you (whomever you are) have given me another excuse to read some of his wonderful work so thankyou. Love the choice, too. Festive but not revoltingly- LOLOL!!!
Nate.
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