The Past
To-day's most trivial act may hold the seedOf future fruitfulness, or future dearth;Oh, cherish always every word and deed!The simplest record of thyself hath worth.
If thou hast ever slighted one old thought,Beware lest Grief enforce the truth at last;The time must come wherein thou shalt be taughtThe value and the beauty of the Past.
Not merely as a warner and a guide,"A voice behind thee," sounding to the strife;But something never to be put aside,A part and parcel of thy present life.
Not as a distant and a darkened sky,Through which the stars peep, and the moon-beams glow;But a surrounding atmosphere, wherebyWe live and breathe, sustained in pain and woe.
A shadowy land, where joy and sorrow kiss,Each still to each corrective and relief,Where dim delights are brightened into bliss,And nothing wholly perishes but Grief.
Ah, me!--not dies--no more than spirit dies;But in a change like death is clothed with wings;A serious angel, with entrancèd eyes,Looking to far-off and celestial things.
Words in this poem
- trivial a.
- Found anywhere; common. [L. trivialis, properly, that is in, or belongs to, the crossroads or public streets; hence, that may be found everywhere, common, fr. trivium a place where thre]
- dearth n.
- Scarcity which renders dear; want; lack; specifically, lack of food on account of failure of crops; famine. [OE. derthe, fr. dere. See Dear.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Past is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Henry Timrod; with Memoir, Project Gutenberg ebook #845; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Timrod, The Past, in Poems (1860–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #845, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/timrod-poems/the-past.html, id L10488.
Form and metre
The Past is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABAB seedA · dearthB · deedA · worthB
- 2 ABAB thoughtA · lastB · taughtA · pastB
- 3 ABAB guideA · strifeB · asideA · lifeB
- 4 ABAB skyA · glowB · wherebyA · woeB
- 5 ABAB kissA · reliefB · blissA · griefB
- 6 ABAB diesA · wingsB · eyesA · thingsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To-day's most trivial act may hold the seed | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of future fruitfulness, or future dearth; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Oh, cherish always every word and deed! | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘··· |
| The simplest record of thyself hath worth. | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| If thou hast ever slighted one old thought, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Beware lest Grief enforce the truth at last; | 10 | ˘/··˘/···· |
| The time must come wherein thou shalt be taught | 10 | ·········· |
| The value and the beauty of the Past. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Not merely as a warner and a guide, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| "A voice behind thee," sounding to the strife; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But something never to be put aside, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| A part and parcel of thy present life. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Not as a distant and a darkened sky, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Through which the stars peep, and the moon-beams glow; | 10 | ·········· |
| But a surrounding atmosphere, whereby | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| We live and breathe, sustained in pain and woe. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| A shadowy land, where joy and sorrow kiss, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Each still to each corrective and relief, | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Where dim delights are brightened into bliss, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| And nothing wholly perishes but Grief. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| Ah, me!--not dies--no more than spirit dies; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But in a change like death is clothed with wings; | 10 | ·········· |
| A serious angel, with entrancèd eyes, | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘···· |
| Looking to far-off and celestial things. | 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.