Time's Fool – Ruth Pitter

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The poem at a glance

"Time's Fool" by English poet Ruth Pitter (1897–1992), the first woman to receive the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry (1955).
The speaker looks back on a humble, poor home from the past — now abandoned and overgrown — and on the life she lived there.
Everyday objects — a "halfpenny candle", a "sooty kettle", a "dry branch" for the fire — are called "treasure".
Three six-line stanzas (sestets) with enclosed rhyme (ABCCBA).
It ends: "in the place that was happy and poor" — key ideas: time and loss, memory, contentment, simplicity, belonging.

Stanza 1: loss

"Time's fool, but not heaven's": the speaker is subject to time (it has taken her past) but perhaps not fooled at a deeper, spiritual level.
"hope not for any return": a firm imperative — the past cannot be recovered.
The humble objects are "lost with the other treasure": calling a candle and kettle×treasure×shows how memory re-values them.
Nature has taken over: the kettle has "become redbreast's home", overgrown with nettles and "bad bindweed".
"no more shall the dry branch burn" — the hearth is cold; the loss is final.

Stanza 2: memory

"Poor comfort all comfort": a paradox — the modest comforts were all the comfort she needed.
Sensory, imperfect details — "cankered apple", "damp bed", "beetle's tap" — are remembered with affection, not complaint.
"there where the heart was at home": the emotional centre; belonging mattered more than comfort.
"Dear enough, when with youth and with fancy shared": the place was precious because she was young and full of imagination — time changes how we see.

Stanza 3: everything in its place

The view widens to the natural world: the toad, the cat, the starling — each creature "slept in his place".
Even "the lily in splendour" has its place: humble and beautiful things alike belong.
The balanced list creates harmony and order.
The final line brings it back to the speaker: "As then I had mine, in the place that was happy and poor."
The juxtaposition "happy and poor" sums up the poem: fulfilment without wealth.

Form and tone

Enclosed rhyme (ABCCBA) folds each stanza back on itself — like memory returning to the past.
Long, enjambed lines with a loose, speech-like rhythm — reflective, not rigid.
Listing gathers fragments of memory into richness.
Tone: elegiac (mourning) but accepting, not bitter.
The structure moves: loss (st. 1) → memory (st. 2) → belonging and acceptance (st. 3).

Themes and comparisons

Time and loss: the past is gone and will not return.
Memory re-values the past: poverty remembered as richness.
Contentment and simplicity: happiness without possessions.
Nature's continuity: what humans abandon, nature reclaims.
Comparisons: "The Trees are Down" (loss of a cherished place), "Tears, Idle Tears" (the days that are no more), "Childhood" (memory).

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Câu hỏi luyện tập

Xem trước miễn phí — 8 trên 37 câu hỏi. Đăng ký để xem tất cả.

1.Who wrote 'Time's Fool'?
Easy
- ARuth Pitter
- BCharlotte Mew
- CFrances Cornford
- DElizabeth Bishop
2.What is the poem mainly about?
Easy
- AA journey to heaven
- BA war
- CA new house in the city
- DRemembering a poor but happy home now lost
3.What are the opening words?
Easy
- APoor comfort all comfort
- BAs then I had mine
- CTime's fool, but not heaven's
- DHope not for any return
4.What does 'hope not for any return' suggest?
Medium
- AThe birds will return in spring
- BThe past cannot be recovered
- CThe speaker will come back soon
- DA ticket has been lost
5.Which objects are called 'treasure'?
Medium
- AHumble things like a halfpenny candle and a sooty kettle
- BGold coins
- CJewels
- DPaintings
6.What has the kettle become?
Medium
- AScrap metal
- BA flowerpot
- CA lamp
- DA redbreast's home
7.What does 'no more shall the dry branch burn' suggest?
Medium
- AThe speaker hates fires
- BThe branch is too wet
- CThe hearth is cold; that life has ended for good
- DThere is a drought
8."Poor comfort all comfort" is an example of…
Medium
- Apersonification
- Bparadox
- Conomatopoeia
- Da rhetorical question

Thêm câu hỏi

9.How are details like the 'cankered apple' and 'damp bed' presented?
Medium
- AWith affection, as part of a treasured past
- BWith disgust and anger
- CAs reasons to leave
- DAs jokes
10.Why was the place 'Dear enough'?
Medium
- ABecause it was expensive
- BBecause it was near the city
- CBecause it was large
- DBecause it was shared with youth and fancy (imagination)
11.Which creatures appear in stanza 3?
Medium
- AHorses and cattle
- BBees and butterflies only
- CThe toad, the cat and the starling
- DThe lion, the eagle and the whale
12.What idea does 'each slept in his place' express?
Medium
- ANight has fallen
- BEverything in nature has its proper place and belonging
- CThe animals are dead
- DThe house is crowded
13.What is the final phrase?
Medium
- Athe place that was happy and poor
- Bthe treasure I lost
- Ctime's fool for ever
- Dhope not for any return
14.What is the effect of 'happy and poor'?
Medium
- AIt shows the speaker regrets being poor
- BIt is a contradiction the poem rejects
- CIt describes a shop
- DIt suggests fulfilment does not depend on wealth
15.What is the rhyme scheme of each stanza?
Medium
- ANo rhyme
- BABABAB
- CEnclosed rhyme, such as ABCCBA
- DAABBCC
16.Why might enclosed rhyme suit a poem about memory?
Medium
- AIt hides the meaning
- BIt circles back, as memory returns to the past
- CIt speeds the poem up
- DIt is required in sestets
17.Which best describes the tone?
Medium
- AElegiac but accepting
- BFurious and bitter
- CComic and silly
- DExcited and hopeful for return
18.Which humble objects are remembered? (select all that apply)
Medium
- AA dry branch
- BA golden crown
- CA silver mirror
- DA halfpenny candle
- EA sooty kettle
19.Which details show nature reclaiming the place? (select all that apply)
Medium
- AA new brick wall
- BA painted door
- CThe kettle become redbreast's home
- DNettles
- EBad bindweed
20.Which themes does the poem explore? (select all that apply)
Medium
- ARomantic betrayal
- BTime and loss
- CContentment in simplicity
- DBelonging
- EWarfare
21.The speaker expects to return to the old home.
Easy
True or false?
22.The poem has three six-line stanzas.
Easy
True or false?
23.The past life was wealthy and comfortable.
Easy
True or false?
24.The speaker's memories of the place are affectionate.
Medium
True or false?
25.Pitter was the first woman to receive the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.
Medium
True or false?
26.Stanza 3 focuses only on the speaker's furniture.
Medium
True or false?
27.The poem suggests youth and imagination made the poor place precious.
Medium
True or false?
28.Match each quotation to its technique.
Medium
- Poor comfort all comfort
- hope not for any return
- happy and poor
- become redbreast's home
- Paradox
- Imperative
- Juxtaposition
- Transformation imagery
29.Match each stanza to its focus.
Medium
- Stanza 1
- Stanza 2
- Stanza 3
- Loss and decay
- Memory and value
- Belonging and acceptance
30.Put these phrases in order.
Medium
- there where the heart was at home
- Time's fool, but not heaven's
- the place that was happy and poor
- no more shall the dry branch burn
31.Complete the opening.
Easy
Time's fool, but not ____
32.Complete the ending.
Medium
in the place that was happy and ____.
33.Complete the phrase.
Medium
Poor comfort all ____
34.Which bird has made its home in the old kettle?
Easy
35.What is a six-line stanza called?
Medium
36.Explain how Pitter presents the value of the lost home.
Medium
37.Explore how the final stanza brings the poem to a resolution.
Hard

Ghi chú ôn tập

## Overview - Ruth Pitter (1897–1992). Three **sestets**, enclosed rhyme (ABCCBA). A poor, happy home remembered after it is lost. ## Stanzas 1. "**Time's fool, but not heaven's**"; "**hope not for any return**"; halfpenny candle, sooty kettle — "lost with the other **treasure**"; kettle "become **redbreast's home**"; nettles, "bad bindweed"; "no more shall the dry branch burn". 2. "**Poor comfort all comfort**"; "cankered apple", "damp bed", "beetle's tap"; "there where the **heart was at home**"; "Dear enough, when with **youth and with fancy** shared". 3. Toad, cat, starling — "each **slept in his place**"; "the lily in splendour"; "As then I had mine, in the place that was **happy and poor**." ## Themes - Time and loss; memory re-values; contentment; nature's continuity; belonging.

Sestet: A six-line stanza.
Enclosed rhyme: A rhyme scheme that folds back on itself, e.g. ABCCBA.
Paradox: 'Poor comfort all comfort'.
Juxtaposition: Placing contrasting ideas together — 'happy and poor'.
Elegiac: Mournful, lamenting what is lost.
Imperative: A command — 'hope not for any return'.
Redbreast: A robin.
Fancy: Imagination.

Thẻ ghi nhớ

Opening words?

'Time's fool, but not heaven's'.

Command in stanza 1?

'hope not for any return'.

Humble 'treasure'?

Halfpenny candle, sooty kettle, dry branch.

What has become of the kettle?

It has 'become redbreast's home'.

Stanza 2 paradox?

'Poor comfort all comfort'.

Emotional centre of stanza 2?

'there where the heart was at home'.

Why was the place dear?

It was shared 'with youth and with fancy'.

Stanza 3 idea?

Toad, cat, starling — each 'slept in his place'.

Last line?

'As then I had mine, in the place that was happy and poor.'

Form?

Three sestets with enclosed rhyme (ABCCBA).

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