Read "The Inquiry" by Thomas Hardy online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
AND are ye one of Hermitage- / Of Hermitage, by Ivel Road, / And do ye know, in Hermitage / A thatch-roofed house where sengreens grow? / And does John Waywood live there still- / He of the name that there abode / When father hurdled on the hill / Some fifteen years ago?
Does he now speak o' Patty Beech, / The Patty Beech he used to-see, / Or ask at all if Patty Beech / Is known or heard of out this way? / -Ask ever if she's living yet, / And where her present home may be, / And how she bears life's fag and fret / After so long a day?
In years agone at Hermitage / This faded face was counted fair, / None fairer; and at Hermitage / We swore to wed when he should thrive. / But never a chance had he or I, / And waiting made his wish outwear, / And Time, that dooms man's love to die, / Preserves a maid's alive.