The Orchard Lands of Long Ago
The orchard lands of Long Ago!O drowsy winds, awake, and blowThe snowy blossoms back to me,And all the buds that used to be!Blow back along the grassy waysOf truant feet, and lift the hazeOf happy summer from the treesThat trail their tresses in the seasOf grain that float and overflowThe orchard lands of Long Ago!
Blow back the melody that slipsIn lazy laughter from the lipsThat marvel much if any kissIs sweeter than the apple's is.Blow back the twitter of the birds--The lisp, the titter, and the wordsOf merriment that found the shineOf summer-time a glorious wineThat drenched the leaves that loved it so,In orchard lands of Long Ago!
O memory! alight and singWhere rosy-bellied pippins cling,And golden russets glint and gleam,As, in the old Arabian dream,The fruits of that enchanted treeThe glad Aladdin robbed for me!And, drowsy winds, awake and fanMy blood as when it overranA heart ripe as the apples growIn orchard lands of Long Ago!
Words in this poem
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- twitter n.
- One who twits, or reproaches; an upbraider. [From Twit.]
- lisp v. i.
- To pronounce the sibilant letter s imperfectly; to give s and z the sound of th; -- a defect common among children. [OE. lispen, lipsen, AS. wlisp stammering, lisping; akin to D. & OHG. lispen to lisp, G. lispeln, Sw. läspa, Dan. lespe.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- glint n.
- A glimpse, glance, or gleam. [OE. glent.]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Orchard Lands of Long Ago is in the public domain. This text is taken from Riley Farm-Rhymes, Project Gutenberg ebook #4783; 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 Whitcomb Riley, The Orchard Lands of Long Ago, in Riley Farm-Rhymes (1883–1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4783, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/riley-farm-rhymes/the-orchard-lands-of-long-ago.html, id L01947.
Form and metre
The Orchard Lands of Long Ago is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 93% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 57% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDAA agoA · blowA · meB · beB · waysC · hazeC · treesD · seasD · overflowA · agoA
- 2 AA--BBCCDD slipsA · lipsA · kiss · is · birdsB · wordsB · shineC · wineC · soD · agoD
- 3 AABBCCDDEE singA · clingA · gleamB · dreamB · treeC · meC · fanD · overranD · growE · agoE
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 orchard lands of Long Ago! | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| O drowsy winds, awake, and blow | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The snowy blossoms back to me, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And all the buds that used to be! | 8 | ········ |
| Blow back along the grassy ways | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Of truant feet, and lift the haze | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of happy summer from the trees | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| That trail their tresses in the seas | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of grain that float and overflow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The orchard lands of Long Ago! | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Blow back the melody that slips | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| In lazy laughter from the lips | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| That marvel much if any kiss | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Is sweeter than the apple's is. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Blow back the twitter of the birds-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The lisp, the titter, and the words | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of merriment that found the shine | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Of summer-time a glorious wine | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That drenched the leaves that loved it so, | 8 | ········ |
| In orchard lands of Long Ago! | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| O memory! alight and sing | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| Where rosy-bellied pippins cling, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And golden russets glint and gleam, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| As, in the old Arabian dream, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The fruits of that enchanted tree | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The glad Aladdin robbed for me! | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And, drowsy winds, awake and fan | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| My blood as when it overran | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| A heart ripe as the apples grow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In orchard lands of 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.