To an Unborn Pauper Child
Thomas Hardy
1840 to 1928
Track 1
Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. You can also use the up (↑) and down (↓) arrows to move a line one place at a time, or the top (⇑) and bottom (⇓) arrows to move a line directly to the top or bottom. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. You can also print out the jumbled poem to cut up and reassemble in the classroom. Either way, take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.
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Travails and teens around us here,
Hopes dwindle; yea,
Had I the ear of wombed souls
Ere their terrestrial chart unrolls,
Faiths waste away,
And Time-Wraiths turn our songsingings to fear.
Thou wilt thy ignorant entry make
Joys seldom yet attained by humankind!
Affections and enthusiasms numb:
Health, love, friends, scope
Must come and bide. And such are we-
Vain vow! No hint of mine may hence
Thou canst not mend these things if thou dost come.
Fain would I, dear, find some shut plot
Should break the calm.
Of earth's wide wold for thee, where not
The Doomsters heap
Though skies spout fire and blood and nations quake.
Hark, how the peoples surge and sigh,
To cease, or be,
In full for thee; can dream thou'lt find
But I am weak as thou and bare;
Life's pending plan:
And thou wert free
Then would I tell thee all I know,
And though thy birth-hour beckons thee,
Explain none can
No man can change the common lot to rare.
One tear, one qualm,
To theeward fly: to thy locked sense
Sleep the long sleep:
That I can hope
Breathe not, hid Heart: cease silently,
Unreasoning, sanguine, visionary-
And laughters fail, and greetings die;
And put it to thee: Wilt thou take Life so?
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