‘At An Inn’ by Thomas Hardy (Poetry Revision Notes)
1. WHEN we as strangers sought
2. Their catering care,
3. Veiled smiles bespoke their thought
4. Of what we were.
5. They warmed as they opined
6. Us more than friends—
7. That we had all resigned
8. For love's dear ends.
9. And that swift sympathy
10. With living love
11. Which quicks the world—maybe
12. The spheres above,
13. Made them our ministers,
14. Moved them to say,
15. "Ah, God, that bliss like theirs
16. Would flush our day!"
17. And we were left alone
18. As Love's own pair;
19. Yet never the love-light shone
20. Between us there!
21. But that which chilled the breath
22. Of afternoon,
23. And palsied unto death
24. The pane-fly's tune.
25. The kiss their zeal foretold,
26. And now deemed come,
27. Came not: within his hold
28. Love lingered numb.
29. Why cast he on our port
, 30. A bloom not ours?
31. Why shaped us for his sport
32. In after-hours?
33. As we seemed we were not
34. That day afar,
35. And now we seem not what
36. We aching are.
37. O severing sea and land,
38. O laws of men,
39. Ere death, once let us stand
40. As we stood then!
Analysis
● Key definitions of language
○ Opined (line 5) = expressed / held an opinion
○ Palsied (line 23) = paralysed / weakened
○ Pane-fly (line 24) = likely referring to the buzzing of an insect at a
window pane
● Context
○ Published in 1898
○ Believed to be inspired by a stay at an inn in 1893
■ Inspired by an autobiographical anecdote. Hardy visited The
George Inn in 1893 with his friend and fellow poet: Florence
Henniker. The innkeepers seemed to believe they were in love.
Hardy reflects on the relationship as a potentially missed
opportunity.
■ Hardy contrasts the hope and potential of the couple (as seen
by the innkeepers) with the truth. This explores the difference
between illusion/appearance and reality, and the constraints
which social expectations place on reality. When examining the
poem, consider how the speaker experiences an emotional loss
1. WHEN we as strangers sought
2. Their catering care,
3. Veiled smiles bespoke their thought
4. Of what we were.
5. They warmed as they opined
6. Us more than friends—
7. That we had all resigned
8. For love's dear ends.
9. And that swift sympathy
10. With living love
11. Which quicks the world—maybe
12. The spheres above,
13. Made them our ministers,
14. Moved them to say,
15. "Ah, God, that bliss like theirs
16. Would flush our day!"
17. And we were left alone
18. As Love's own pair;
19. Yet never the love-light shone
20. Between us there!
21. But that which chilled the breath
22. Of afternoon,
23. And palsied unto death
24. The pane-fly's tune.
25. The kiss their zeal foretold,
26. And now deemed come,
27. Came not: within his hold
28. Love lingered numb.
29. Why cast he on our port
, 30. A bloom not ours?
31. Why shaped us for his sport
32. In after-hours?
33. As we seemed we were not
34. That day afar,
35. And now we seem not what
36. We aching are.
37. O severing sea and land,
38. O laws of men,
39. Ere death, once let us stand
40. As we stood then!
Analysis
● Key definitions of language
○ Opined (line 5) = expressed / held an opinion
○ Palsied (line 23) = paralysed / weakened
○ Pane-fly (line 24) = likely referring to the buzzing of an insect at a
window pane
● Context
○ Published in 1898
○ Believed to be inspired by a stay at an inn in 1893
■ Inspired by an autobiographical anecdote. Hardy visited The
George Inn in 1893 with his friend and fellow poet: Florence
Henniker. The innkeepers seemed to believe they were in love.
Hardy reflects on the relationship as a potentially missed
opportunity.
■ Hardy contrasts the hope and potential of the couple (as seen
by the innkeepers) with the truth. This explores the difference
between illusion/appearance and reality, and the constraints
which social expectations place on reality. When examining the
poem, consider how the speaker experiences an emotional loss
