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Vocabulary in The Shadow on the Stone

Vocabulary Examples in The Shadow on the Stone:

Text of the Poem

🔒 5

"apparition..."   (Text of the Poem)

An apparition is a ghostly figure or something that appears supernaturally.

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"unvision..."   (Text of the Poem)

Hardy coins the word “unvision” to mean literally “unsee.” In the poem’s context, it also has a figurative meaning: to destroy the vision of Emma he imagined or experienced in the garden.

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"hard by..."   (Text of the Poem)

In the context of this line, “hard by” means near or nearby.

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"broods..."   (Text of the Poem)

To brood means to dwell on a subject while in an anxious or gloomy state of mind. With the word “broods,” Hardy personifies the stone, ascribing to it his own depressed emotional state.

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"I went by the Druid stone..."   (Text of the Poem)

The poem begins with the description of an ancient stone in the garden at Max Gate. After moving into the house, Hardy discovered the large block of stone buried in the garden and arranged for it to be excavated, revealing charred human bones and ashes. Historical evidence to the contrary, Hardy chose to believe that the stone was the site of human sacrifices performed by Druids, priests of the Celtic tribes in Britain at the time of the Roman conquest.

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Analysis Pages