A Reminiscence
It is so long gone by, and yetHow clearly now I see it all!The glimmer of your cigarette,The little chamber, narrow and tall.
Perseus; your picture in its frame;(How near they seem and yet how far!)The blaze of kindled logs; the flameOf tulips in a mighty jar.
Florence and spring-time: surely eachGlad things unto the spirit saith.Why did you lead me in your speechTo these dark mysteries of death?
The Sequel to “A Reminiscence.”
Not in the street and not in the square,The street and square where you went and came;With shuttered casement your house stands bare,Men hush their voice when they speak your name.
I, too, can play at the vain pretence,Can feign you dead; while a voice sounds clearIn the inmost depths of my heart: Go hence,Go, find your friend who is far from here.
Not here, but somewhere where I can reach!Can a man with motion, hearing and sight,And a thought that answered my thought and speech,Be utterly lost and vanished quite?
Whose hand was warm in my hand last week?...My heart beat fast as I neared the gate--Was it this I had come to seek,“A stone that stared with your name and date;”
A hideous, turfless, fresh-made mound;A silence more cold than the wind that blew?What had I lost, and what had I found?My flowers that mocked me fell to the ground--Then, and then only, my spirit knew.
Words in this poem
- cigarette n.
- A little cigar; a little fine tobacco rolled in paper for smoking. [F. cigarette.]
- perseus n.
- A Grecian legendary hero, son of Jupiter and Danaë, who slew the Gorgon Medusa.
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- sequel n.
- That which follows; a succeeding part; continuation; as, the sequel of a man's advantures or history. [L. sequela, fr. sequit to follow: cf. F. séquelle a following. See Sue to follow.]
- reminiscence n.
- The act or power of recalling past experience; the state of being reminiscent; remembrance; memory. [F. réminiscence, L. reminiscentia.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- shuttered a.
- Furnished with shutters.
- casement n.
- A window sash opening on hinges affixed to the upright side of the frame into which it is fitted. (Poetically) A window. [Shortened fr. encasement. See Incase 1st Case, and cf. Incasement.]
- pretence n.
- The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension. [LL. praetensus, for L. praetentus, p. p. of praetendere. See Pretend, and cf. Tension.]
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- turfless a.
- Destitute of turf.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Reminiscence is in the public domain. This text is taken from A London Plane-Tree, and Other Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #56974; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Amy Levy, A Reminiscence, in A London Plane-Tree, and Other Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56974, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/levy-london-plane-tree/a-reminiscence.html, id L21544.
Form and metre
A Reminiscence is 34 lines in 9 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
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 ABAB yetA · allB · cigaretteA · tallB
- 2 ABAB frameA · farB · flameA · jarB
- 3 ABAB eachA · saithB · speechA · deathB
- 5 ABAB squareA · cameB · bareA · nameB
- 6 ABAB pretenceA · clearB · henceA · hereB
- 7 ABAB reachA · sightB · speechA · quiteB
- 8 ABAB weekA · gateB · seekA · dateB
- 9 ABAAB moundA · blewB · foundA · groundA · knewB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It is so long gone by, and yet | 8 | ········ |
| How clearly now I see it all! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The glimmer of your cigarette, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The little chamber, narrow and tall. | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘·· |
| Perseus; your picture in its frame; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| (How near they seem and yet how far!) | 8 | ········ |
| The blaze of kindled logs; the flame | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of tulips in a mighty jar. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Florence and spring-time: surely each | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Glad things unto the spirit saith. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Why did you lead me in your speech | 8 | ········ |
| To these dark mysteries of death? | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| The Sequel to “A Reminiscence.” | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Not in the street and not in the square, | 9 | ········· |
| The street and square where you went and came; | 9 | ········· |
| With shuttered casement your house stands bare, | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Men hush their voice when they speak your name. | 9 | ········· |
| I, too, can play at the vain pretence, | 9 | ········· |
| Can feign you dead; while a voice sounds clear | 9 | ········· |
| In the inmost depths of my heart: Go hence, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Go, find your friend who is far from here. | 9 | ········· |
| Not here, but somewhere where I can reach! | 9 | ···/····· |
| Can a man with motion, hearing and sight, | 10 | ····/˘/˘·· |
| And a thought that answered my thought and speech, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Be utterly lost and vanished quite? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whose hand was warm in my hand last week?... | 9 | ········· |
| My heart beat fast as I neared the gate-- | 9 | ········· |
| Was it this I had come to seek, | 8 | ········ |
| “A stone that stared with your name and date;” | 9 | ········· |
| A hideous, turfless, fresh-made mound; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A silence more cold than the wind that blew? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| What had I lost, and what had I found? | 9 | ········· |
| My flowers that mocked me fell to the ground-- | 9 | ·/······· |
| Then, and then only, my spirit knew. | 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.