So Long Ago
THEY stood upon the vessel’s deckTo catch our farewell look and beck.Two girlish figures, fair and frail,Hovering against a great white sailLike spirit shapes in dazzling air,—I seem to see them standing there,Always together, always so,—’Twas long ago, oh, long ago!
The east was bright with yellow noon,The flying vessel vanished soon.Flashes of jubilant white sprayBeckoned and pointed her the way.A lessening speck she outward sped;Sadly we turned, but still we said,“They will come back again, we know,”—’Twas long ago, so long ago!
Those faces sweet, those happy eyes,Looked nevermore on Western skies;Where the hot sunbeams weave their netO’er cedar-crowned, sad Olivet,They who had shared their lives shared death,Tasting at once the first strange breathOf those quick airs for souls that flowSo long ago, so long ago!
In vain we picture to our eyesThe convent gray, the still, blue skies,The mountain with its bordering wood;—Still do they stand as then they stood,Hovering like spirits fair and frailAgainst the dazzle of the sail;The red lips part, the faces glow,As long ago, so long ago!
Words in this poem
- girlish a.
- Like, or characteristic of, a girl; of or pertaining to girlhood; innocent; artless; immature; weak; as, girlish ways; girlish grief.
- jubilant a.
- Uttering songs of triumph; shouting with joy; triumphant; exulting. [L. jubilans, -antis, p. pr. of jubilare to shout for joy: cf. F. jubila. See Jubilate.]
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- nevermore adv.
- Never again; at no time hereafter. Testament of Love. Tyndale.
- dazzle v. t.
- To overpower with light; to confuse the sight of by brilliance of light. [Freq. of daze.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
So Long Ago is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, So Long Ago, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/so-long-ago.html, id L23422.
Form and metre
So Long Ago is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDD, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDD deckA · beckA · frailB · sailB · airC · thereC · soD · agoD
- 2 AABBCCDD noonA · soonA · sprayB · wayB · spedC · saidC · knowD · agoD
- 3 AA--BBCC eyesA · skiesA · net · olivet · deathB · breathB · flowC · agoC
- 4 AABBCCDD eyesA · skiesA · woodB · stoodB · frailC · sailC · glowD · agoD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THEY stood upon the vessel’s deck | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To catch our farewell look and beck. | 8 | ··/·/··· |
| Two girlish figures, fair and frail, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Hovering against a great white sail | 8 | /˘······ |
| Like spirit shapes in dazzling air,— | 8 | ·/··/˘˘· |
| I seem to see them standing there, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Always together, always so,— | 8 | /·˘/˘/˘· |
| ’Twas long ago, oh, long ago! | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| The east was bright with yellow noon, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The flying vessel vanished soon. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Flashes of jubilant white spray | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| Beckoned and pointed her the way. | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| A lessening speck she outward sped; | 8 | ·/˘˘··/· |
| Sadly we turned, but still we said, | 8 | /˘······ |
| “They will come back again, we know,”— | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| ’Twas long ago, so long ago! | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Those faces sweet, those happy eyes, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Looked nevermore on Western skies; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where the hot sunbeams weave their net | 8 | ···/···· |
| O’er cedar-crowned, sad Olivet, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| They who had shared their lives shared death, | 8 | ········ |
| Tasting at once the first strange breath | 8 | /˘······ |
| Of those quick airs for souls that flow | 8 | ········ |
| So long ago, so long ago! | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| In vain we picture to our eyes | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| The convent gray, the still, blue skies, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The mountain with its bordering wood;— | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Still do they stand as then they stood, | 8 | ········ |
| Hovering like spirits fair and frail | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Against the dazzle of the sail; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The red lips part, the faces glow, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As long ago, so long ago! | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
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