Dulcis Memoria
Long, long ago I heard a little song,(Ah, was it long ago, or yesterday?)So lowly, slowly wound the tune along,That far into my heart it found the way:A melody consoling and endearing;And now, in silent hours, I'm often hearingThe small, sweet song that does not die away.
Long, long ago I saw a little flower--(Ah, was it long ago, or yesterday?)So fair of face and fragrant for an hour,That something dear to me it seemed to say,--A wordless joy that blossomed into being;And now, in winter days, I'm often seeingThe friendly flower that does not fade away.
Long, long ago we had a little child,--(Ah, was it long ago, or yesterday?)Into his mother's eyes and mine he smiledUnconscious love; warm in our arms he lay.An angel called! Dear heart, we could not hold him;Yet secretly your arms and mine infold him--Our little child who does not go away.
Long, long ago? Ah, memory, make it clear--(It was not long ago, but yesterday.)So little and so helpless and so dear--Let not the song be lost, the flower decay!His voice, his waking eyes, his gentle sleeping:The smallest things are safest in thy keeping,--Sweet memory, keep our child with us alway.
Words in this poem
- consoling a.
- Adapted to console or comfort; cheering; as, this is consoling news.
- endearing a.
- Making dear or beloved; causing love.
- wordless a.
- Not using words; not speaking; silent; speechless.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dulcis Memoria is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; 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 Van Dyke, Dulcis Memoria, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/dulcis-memoria.html, id L22861.
Form and metre
Dulcis Memoria is 28 lines in 4 stanzas of 7 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCB, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABABCCB songA · yesterdayB · alongA · wayB · endearingC · hearingC · awayB
- 2 ABABCCB flowerA · yesterdayB · hourA · sayB · beingC · seeingC · awayB
- 3 ABABCCB childA · yesterdayB · smiledA · layB · himC · himC · awayB
- 4 ABABCC- clearA · yesterdayB · dearA · decayB · sleepingC · keepingC · alway
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Long, long ago I heard a little song, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| (Ah, was it long ago, or yesterday?) | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| So lowly, slowly wound the tune along, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| That far into my heart it found the way: | 10 | ·········· |
| A melody consoling and endearing; | 11 | ·/˘˘˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| And now, in silent hours, I'm often hearing | 11 | ···/˘/·/˘/˘ |
| The small, sweet song that does not die away. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Long, long ago I saw a little flower-- | 11 | ··˘/···/˘/˘ |
| (Ah, was it long ago, or yesterday?) | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| So fair of face and fragrant for an hour, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| That something dear to me it seemed to say,-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A wordless joy that blossomed into being; | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| And now, in winter days, I'm often seeing | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| The friendly flower that does not fade away. | 10 | ·/˘/····˘/ |
| Long, long ago we had a little child,-- | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| (Ah, was it long ago, or yesterday?) | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Into his mother's eyes and mine he smiled | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Unconscious love; warm in our arms he lay. | 10 | ·/˘···/··· |
| An angel called! Dear heart, we could not hold him; | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Yet secretly your arms and mine infold him-- | 10 | ·/˘····˘/· |
| Our little child who does not go away. | 10 | //˘·····˘/ |
| Long, long ago? Ah, memory, make it clear-- | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| (It was not long ago, but yesterday.) | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| So little and so helpless and so dear-- | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Let not the song be lost, the flower decay! | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| His voice, his waking eyes, his gentle sleeping: | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| The smallest things are safest in thy keeping,-- | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Sweet memory, keep our child with us alway. | 11 | ·/˘˘·/···/˘ |
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.