In Tenebris (1895)

22 In Tenebris (1895)

Thomas Hardy

“Percussus sum sicut foenum, et aruit cor meum.” —Ps. ci.^[1]

Wintertime nighs;

But my bereavement-pain

It cannot bring again:

Twice no one dies.

5

Flower-petals flee;

But, since it once hath been,

No more that severing scene

Can harrow me.

Birds faint in dread:

10

I shall not lose old strength

In the lone frost’s black length:

Strength long since fled

Leaves freeze to dun;

But friends can not turn cold

15

This season as of old

For him with none.

Tempests may scath;

But love can not make smart

Again this year his heart

20

Who no heart hath.

Black is night’s cope;

But death will not appal

One who, past doubtings all,

Waits in unhope.

1895.

This is the Latin Vulgate text of Psalm 102:4 from the Bible, which in the Authorized King James English translation Hardy would have been most familiar with reads, "My heart is smitten, and withered like grass." The Vulgate has been largely out of use in England, except in the Roman Catholic Church, since the late 1500s. ↵

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