You're right, Allen: a truly molossal mistake. And I should have checked before I assumed anything about the final anceps. That said, I think you'll agree that Tennyson's ultimae are pretty consistently unaccented.
And for what it's worth, I suspect many readers would demote the middle "hard" with me as well; it isn't required, of course, but it's a natural instinct of English speakers when faced with three heavies in a row. Anyway, it's enough to see the overall pattern; one can always quibble over a few lines here or there. Tennyson consistently starts with a trochee:
O you . . .
IRre . . .
LOOK, i . . .
ALL com . . .
ALL in . . .
LIKE a . . .
and once that pattern is established, it's no great shift to read
AS some RARE little ROSE, a PIECE of INmost
or indeed
HARD, hard, HARD it is, ONly NOT to TUMble,
and so find a perfectly regular pattern across the poem. But there's no reason to insist on it.
But yes, Allen, you're right. It is hard sometimes.
Thanks,
Steve C.
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