Golden Days
Golden days--where are they?Pilgrims east and westCry; if we could find themWe would pause and rest:We would pause and rest a littleFrom our long and weary ways:-Where are they, then, where are they--Golden days?
Golden days--where are they?Ask of childhood's years,Still untouched by sorrow,Still undimmed by tears:Ah, they seek a phantom Future,Crowned with brighter, starry rays;--Where are they, then, where are they--Golden days?
Golden days--where are they?Has Love learnt the spellThat will charm them hither,Near our hearth to dwell?Insecure are all her treasures,Restless is her anxious gaze:-Where are they, then, where are they--Golden days?
Golden days--where are they?Farther up the hillI can hear the echoFaintly calling still:Faintly calling, faintly dying,In a far-off misty haze:-Where are they, then, where are they--Golden days?
Words in this poem
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Golden Days is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, Golden Days, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/golden-days.html, id L21783.
Form and metre
Golden Days is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 AB-B-CAC theyA · westB · them · restB · little · waysC · theyA · daysC
- 2 AB-B-CAC theyA · yearsB · sorrow · tearsB · future · raysC · theyA · daysC
- 3 AB-BCCAC theyA · spellB · hither · dwellB · treasuresC · gazeC · theyA · daysC
- 4 AB-B-CAC theyA · hillB · echo · stillB · dying · hazeC · theyA · daysC
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Golden days--where are they? | 6 | /˘···· |
| Pilgrims east and west | 5 | /˘··· |
| Cry; if we could find them | 6 | ······ |
| We would pause and rest: | 5 | ····· |
| We would pause and rest a little | 8 | ······/˘ |
| From our long and weary ways:- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where are they, then, where are they-- | 7 | ······· |
| Golden days? | 3 | /˘· |
| Golden days--where are they? | 6 | /˘···· |
| Ask of childhood's years, | 5 | ··/·· |
| Still untouched by sorrow, | 7 | ·˘/˘·/˘ |
| Still undimmed by tears: | 5 | ····· |
| Ah, they seek a phantom Future, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Crowned with brighter, starry rays;-- | 8 | ·˘·/˘/˘· |
| Where are they, then, where are they-- | 7 | ······· |
| Golden days? | 3 | /˘· |
| Golden days--where are they? | 6 | /˘···· |
| Has Love learnt the spell | 5 | ····· |
| That will charm them hither, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Near our hearth to dwell? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Insecure are all her treasures, | 8 | /˘˘···/˘ |
| Restless is her anxious gaze:- | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Where are they, then, where are they-- | 7 | ······· |
| Golden days? | 3 | /˘· |
| Golden days--where are they? | 6 | /˘···· |
| Farther up the hill | 5 | /˘··· |
| I can hear the echo | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Faintly calling still: | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Faintly calling, faintly dying, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| In a far-off misty haze:- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Where are they, then, where are they-- | 7 | ······· |
| Golden days? | 3 | /˘· |
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.