Long Ago
I once knew all the birds that cameAnd nested in our orchard trees;For every flower I had a name--My friends were woodchucks, toads, and bees;I knew where thrived in yonder glenWhat plants would soothe a stone-bruised toe--Oh, I was very learned then;But that was very long ago!
I knew the spot upon the hillWhere checkerberries could be found,I knew the rushes near the millWhere pickerel lay that weighed a pound!I knew the wood,--the very treeWhere lived the poaching, saucy crow,And all the woods and crows knew me--But that was very long ago.
And pining for the joys of youth,I tread the old familiar spotOnly to learn this solemn truth:I have forgotten, am forgot.Yet here's this youngster at my kneeKnows all the things I used to know;To think I once was wise as he--But that was very long ago.
I know it's folly to complainOf whatsoe'er the Fates decree;Yet were not wishes all in vain,I tell you what my wish should be:I'd wish to be a boy again,Back with the friends I used to know;For I was, oh! so happy then--But that was very long ago!
Words in this poem
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- pickerel n.
- A young or small pike. [Dim. of Pike.]
- youngster n.
- A young person; a youngling; a lad.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Long Ago is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Little Book of Western Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #9606; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, Long Ago, in A Little Book of Western Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9606, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-western-verse/long-ago.html, id L24682.
Form and metre
Long Ago is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABABCDCD cameA · treesB · nameA · beesB · glenC · toeD · thenC · agoD
- 2 ABABCDCD hillA · foundB · millA · poundB · treeC · crowD · meC · agoD
- 3 ABABCDCD youthA · spotB · truthA · forgotB · kneeC · knowD · heC · agoD
- 4 ABABACAC complainA · decreeB · vainA · beB · againA · knowC · thenA · agoC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I once knew all the birds that came | 8 | ········ |
| And nested in our orchard trees; | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| For every flower I had a name-- | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| My friends were woodchucks, toads, and bees; | 8 | ···/···· |
| I knew where thrived in yonder glen | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What plants would soothe a stone-bruised toe-- | 8 | ········ |
| Oh, I was very learned then; | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| But that was very long ago! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| I knew the spot upon the hill | 8 | ········ |
| Where checkerberries could be found, | 7 | ······· |
| I knew the rushes near the mill | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where pickerel lay that weighed a pound! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I knew the wood,--the very tree | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where lived the poaching, saucy crow, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And all the woods and crows knew me-- | 8 | ········ |
| But that was very long ago. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And pining for the joys of youth, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I tread the old familiar spot | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Only to learn this solemn truth: | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| I have forgotten, am forgot. | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Yet here's this youngster at my knee | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Knows all the things I used to know; | 8 | ········ |
| To think I once was wise as he-- | 8 | ········ |
| But that was very long ago. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| I know it's folly to complain | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Of whatsoe'er the Fates decree; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Yet were not wishes all in vain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I tell you what my wish should be: | 8 | ········ |
| I'd wish to be a boy again, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Back with the friends I used to know; | 8 | ········ |
| For I was, oh! so happy then-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But that was very long ago! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.