▪ I. hark, v.
(hɑːk)
Forms: 2 herkien, 3 harkien, (3–4 herc), 3–5 herken, 4–6 herk(e, 6–8 harke, heark, 6– hark.
[Early ME. herkien:—OE. type *heorcian corresp. to OFris. herkia, harkia (WFris. herckjen, harckjen, NFris. harke); in ablaut relation with MDu. horken, horcken (Kilian) mod. Flem. dial. heurken, horken, MHG. and mod. Ger. horchen; from an ablaut series herk-, hark-, hork-. OHG. hôrechen, MHG. hôrchen, perh. owe their long ô to the influence of hôren to hear. The change of OE. eo, ME. e, to a is regular: cf. OE. beorc bark, deorc dark: the Sc. form is still herk as in derk, berk, etc.]
1. trans. To give ear or listen to; to hearken to, hear with active attention.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 31 Bluðeliche he wule herkien þet þe preost him leið on. c 1200 Vices & Virt. (1888) 19 Harkið hwat se haligast seið. c 1325 Lai le Freine 147 Sone after she gan herk Cokkes crowe, and houndes berk. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1276 Dido, Now herkith how he schal his lady serue. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ix. 246 Herke what we wyll telle you. 1513 Douglas æneis xii. x. 30 Now harkis quhat I purpos do this tyde. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 401 What, I say, herke a worde. 1598 Yong Diana 282 Harke but one worde that I shall say vnto thee. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 506 Hark what he himself here saith. 1830 Tennyson Sonn. to J. M. K., Hating to hark The humming of the drowsy pulpit-drone. |
2. intr. To give ear, hearken, listen. a. with to.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 14030 (Gött.) Herk to me a stund. 1513 Douglas æneis ix. Prol. 6 Quha tharto harkis fallis in fragilite. 1579–80 North Plutarch Amiot to Rdrs. (R.), A certain singular pleasure in hearking to such as be returned from some long voyage. 1580 Sidney Ps. xvii. i, Just Lord, to my suit hark. 1646 Crashaw Temperance in Steps to Temple (1670) 207 Hark hither, Reader, wilt thou see Nature her own Physitian be? 1785 Burns Vision i. 25 Had I to guid advice but harkit. 1855 Lynch Rivulet lxix. v, We hark with holy fear To the lingering sounds sublime. 1887 G. M. Fenn Dick o' the Fens vii, Hark at him!..young squire ar'n't going to eat any more bacon, 'cause it's cruel to kill the pigs. 1894 Crockett Raiders 178 Hark to the rattle of the guns. 1895 ‘G. Mortimer’ Like Stars that Fall xiii, ‘You're so spry, I can't trust you for a grass widow.’ ‘Hark at him!’ laughed Mrs. Larpenti. |
b. absol. Chiefly in imp.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21378 Herc, and i sal tel yow. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 237/1 Herkyn, and take heede, and ley to þe ere..asculto. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. Prol. 15 Harkis, ladyis, ȝour bewtie was the caus. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. v. 27 Hearke Countreymen, eyther renew the fight Or teare the Lyons out of Englands Coat. 1610 ― Temp. iv. i. 262 Harke, they rore. c 1709 Prior 2nd Hymn Callimachus 4 Hark! he knocks. 1821 Byron Heaven & Earth iii. 727 Hark, hark! Deep sounds..Are howling from the mountain's bosom. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 86, I knew her well And her whole history, if ye'll hark, can tell. |
c. In the imperative the nom. ye is often added (also written hark'ee, harkee); less commonly hark you, and by confusion hark thee (cf. fare thee well).
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. i. 99 Why harke yee, harke yee, and are you such fooles, To square for this? 1591 ― Two Gent. iii. i. 127 Harke thee: I will goe to her alone. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone v. i, But, heark you: Remember, what your ladyship off'red me. 1708 Motteux Rabelais iv. lxiv. (1737) 261 Harkee me, dear Rogue! 1709 Steele Tatler No. 38 ¶9 Hark'ee, No Names. 1711 Budgell Spect. No. 150 ¶9 Hark you, Sirrah, I'll pay off your extravagant Bills once more. 1751 E. Moore Gil Blas Prol (R.), But hearkee, poet!—won't you though? says I. 1836–48 B. D. Walsh Aristoph., Knights ii. iii, Harkee, Quick haul up your ponderous dolphins. 1838 Lytton Alice 69 Hark ye! one word more with me, sir, and you quit my service to-morrow. |
† 3. trans. To get to hear of, find out by inquiry and listening; = hearken v. 8. Obs.
| 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer (1577) N vij b, Those that go alwaies harking out the loues of others, & disclose them so point by point. |
4. intr. Used in hunting, etc., as a call of attention and incitement, esp. in conjunction with an adverb directing what action is to be performed: hence denoting the action: see below. Cf. also hark n.
| 1610 Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 258 Pro. [setting on dogs] Fury, Fury: there Tyrant, there: harke, harke. Goe, charge my Goblins that they grinde their ioynts. |
a. hark away, hark forward, hark in, hark off: to proceed or go away, forward, in, draw off.
| 1737–1801 [see hark n.]. 1816 ‘Quiz’ Grand Master viii. 228 Hark! forward, sportsmen—'tis the same. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. s.v. Haurk, When the hunter hears by them [terriers] the situation they are in, he bawls down to haurk to him, haurk to him, ye wee blasties. 1826 Sporting Mag. XVII. 270 The word was given ‘Yoi—hark in, hark’. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby i. v, I think the hounds are too hot to hark off now. 1846 R. E. Egerton-Warburton Hunting Songs v. (1883) 15 Away! Hark, away!..Ne'er slacken your pace. |
b. hark back. Of hounds: To return along the course taken, when the scent has been lost, till it is found again; hence fig. to retrace one's course or steps; to return, revert; to return to some earlier point in a narrative, discussion, or argument.
| 1829 Sporting Mag. XXIV. 175, I must ‘hark back’, as we say in the chace. 1868 Holme Lee B. Godfrey xli. 225 Basil must needs hark back on the subject of the papers. 1877 Cruttwell Hist. Rom. Lit. 223 The mind of Lucretius harks back to the glorious period of creative enthusiasm. 1882 Stevenson Stud. Men & Bks., J. Knox 349 He has to hark back again to find the scent of his argument. 1895 F. Hall Two Trifles 31 To hark back to scientist..I am ready to pit it against your agnostic. |
c. trans. hark on, hark forward: to urge on with encouraging cries. hark back: to recall.
| 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 178 Scho herkit on her revining [i.e. ravening] crew. 1834 Sir H. Taylor Artevelde i. i. 9 (D.) There is but one that harks me back. 1852 Thackeray Esmond ii. ix, Yelling and harking his bloody war-dogs on. 1865 G. W. Dasent Jest & Earnest (1873) I. 209 He..harked forward his packs of hounds with a cheer. |
d. hark after: to go after, to follow.
| 1899 B. Tarkington Gentleman fr. Indiana vii. 109 Men were running around a corner of the court-house, and the women and children were harking after. |
5. intr. To speak in one's ear; to whisper or mutter. Sc. and north. dial.
| 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 168 in Satir. Poems Reform. xlv, Auld Captane Kirkburne to him harkit. 1697 W. Cleland Poems 99 (Jam.) Then some began to hark and rown. 1785 R. Forbes Dominie Deposed 38 (Jam.) Then whispering low to me she harked. 1851 Cumbld. Gloss., Hark, to whisper and to listen. |
Hence ˈharking vbl. n. and ppl. a.; also ˈharker Sc., a listener.
| 1530 Palsgr. 229/1 Harkyng, escout, audience. 1583 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 47 Thee les he furth pratled, thee more wee longed in harcking. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant Crew, Harking [1785 Grose, Hark-ye-ing], whispering on one side to borrow Money. 1825 Jamieson s.v., Harkers never hear a gude word of themselves. 1885 Lady Greville Creatures of Clay I. xvii, The sense that I was bound to another woman would prevent any vain harkings back. |
▪ II. hark, n.
[f. hark v.]
a. An act of harking. b. A whisper, a privy communication. Sc. c. A shout starting or urging on the hounds in the chase; also hark away. d. hark back: a retracing of steps, a backward move.
| 1737 M. Green Spleen 83 Exulting at the hark-away. 1786 Lounger No. 87. 300, I have not forgotten..the encouraging Hark forward to a cautious hound. 1743 Garrick Lethe i. Wks. 1798 I. 20 All hie to the midnight hark-away. 1798 Sporting Mag. XII. 5 The chace an oblique ‘hark back’ of two miles. 1801 Bloomfield Rural T. (1802) 114 Ye peaceful Streams that wind along Repeat the Hark-away. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. iii, With hark and whoop and wild halloo No rest Benvoirlich's echoes knew. 1820 Hogg Wint. Even. T. II. 207 (Jam.) Take heart till I tell you the hark of my mind. 1859 Masson Brit. Novelists ii. 152 The attempt..is interesting as a hark-back to mediævalism. |