Ghosts of the Old Year
The snow has ceased its fluttering flight,The wind sunk to a whisper light,An ominous stillness fills the night,A pause--a hush.At last, a sound that breaks the spell,Loud, clanging mouthings of a bell,That through the silence peal and swell,And roll, and rush.
What does this brazen tongue declare,That falling on the midnight airBrings to my heart a sense of careAkin to fright?'Tis telling that the year is dead,The New Year come, the Old Year fled,Another leaf before me spreadOn which to write.
It tells the deeds that were not done,It tells of races never run,Of victories that were not won,Barriers unleaped.It tells of many a squandered day,Of slighted gems and treasured clay,Of precious stores not laid away,Of fields unreaped.
And so the years go swiftly by,Each, coming, brings ambitions high,And each, departing, leaves a sighLinked to the past.Large resolutions, little deeds;Thus, filled with aims unreached, life speedsUntil the blotted record reads,"Failure!" at last.
Words in this poem
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
- peal v. i.
- To appeal. Spencer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ghosts of the Old Year is in the public domain. This text is taken from Fifty Years, & Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #17884; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Weldon Johnson, Ghosts of the Old Year, in Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17884, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-fifty-years/ghosts-of-the-old-year.html, id L08316.
Form and metre
Ghosts of the Old Year is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AAABCCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AAABCCCB flightA · lightA · nightA · hushB · spellC · bellC · swellC · rushB
- 2 AAABCCCB declareA · airA · careA · frightB · deadC · fledC · spreadC · writeB
- 3 AAABCCCB doneA · runA · wonA · unleapedB · dayC · clayC · awayC · unreapedB
- 4 AAABCCCB byA · highA · sighA · pastB · deedsC · speedsC · readsC · lastB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The snow has ceased its fluttering flight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The wind sunk to a whisper light, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An ominous stillness fills the night, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A pause--a hush. | 4 | ···· |
| At last, a sound that breaks the spell, | 8 | ········ |
| Loud, clanging mouthings of a bell, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| That through the silence peal and swell, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And roll, and rush. | 4 | ···· |
| What does this brazen tongue declare, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That falling on the midnight air | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Brings to my heart a sense of care | 8 | ········ |
| Akin to fright? | 4 | ˘/·· |
| 'Tis telling that the year is dead, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The New Year come, the Old Year fled, | 8 | ········ |
| Another leaf before me spread | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| On which to write. | 4 | ···· |
| It tells the deeds that were not done, | 8 | ········ |
| It tells of races never run, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Of victories that were not won, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Barriers unleaped. | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| It tells of many a squandered day, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Of slighted gems and treasured clay, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of precious stores not laid away, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Of fields unreaped. | 4 | ···· |
| And so the years go swiftly by, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Each, coming, brings ambitions high, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And each, departing, leaves a sigh | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Linked to the past. | 4 | ···· |
| Large resolutions, little deeds; | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Thus, filled with aims unreached, life speeds | 8 | ········ |
| Until the blotted record reads, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| "Failure!" at last. | 4 | /˘·· |
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.