Thomas Hardy: Poems

Thomas Hardy: Poems Glossary

beruffled

Disorderly, scruffy

bine-stems

The stem of a flexible climbing plant

coppice

An area of woodland tended to by farmers in order to stimulate growth and provide firewood

evensong

Music for evening church service

gaunt

Appearing lean and exhausted, especially as the result of suffering

germ

A small amount of a living substance capable of developing into a living organism, such as a seed

faltering

Losing momentum or strength

filmed

To be or appear to be covered with a thin layer of something

illimited

Free from limitation or restraint

listlessness

Having or showing little to no interest in anything

mead

In "Afterwards," mead is used to mean something like meadow or heath.

nigh

Near or almost

norward

A place in the north

outleant

To lean further

outrollings

In "Afterwards," the state of billowing as a wind

postern

A back door or gate

quittance

Discharge from an obligation

spectre

A ghost

tremulous

To be affected with involuntary shaking

wistlessness

The state of being not knowing, ignorant, or unwitting

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