Past and Future
The new hath come and now the old retires:And so the past becomes a mountain-cell,Where lone, apart, old hermit-memories dwellIn consecrated calm, forgotten yetOf the keen heart that hastens to forgetOld longings in fulfilling new desires.
And now the Soul stands in a vague, intenseExpectancy and anguish of suspense,On the dim chamber-threshold . . . lo! he seesLike a strange, fated bride as yet unknown,His timid future shrinking there alone,Beneath her marriage-veil of mysteries.
Words in this poem
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- expectancy n.
- The act of expecting ; expectation.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Past and Future is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Golden Threshold, with an introduction by Arthur Symons (Hyderabad, 1905; London, John Lane, 1905), Project Gutenberg ebook #680; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sarojini Naidu, Past and Future, in The Golden Threshold (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #680, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/naidu-golden-threshold/past-and-future.html, id L27496.
Form and metre
Past and Future is 12 lines in 2 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBCCA retiresA · cellB · dwellB · yetC · forgetC · desiresA
- 2 AABCCB intenseA · suspenseA · seesB · unknownC · aloneC · mysteriesB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The new hath come and now the old retires: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And so the past becomes a mountain-cell, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Where lone, apart, old hermit-memories dwell | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| In consecrated calm, forgotten yet | 10 | ·/˘·˘·˘/˘· |
| Of the keen heart that hastens to forget | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Old longings in fulfilling new desires. | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| And now the Soul stands in a vague, intense | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Expectancy and anguish of suspense, | 10 | ˘/˘˘·/˘·˘/ |
| On the dim chamber-threshold . . . lo! he sees | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Like a strange, fated bride as yet unknown, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| His timid future shrinking there alone, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Beneath her marriage-veil of mysteries. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
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.