Analysis of When Age Comes On
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
When Age comes on!--
'The deepening dusk is where the dawn
Once glittered splendid, and the dew
In honey-drips, from red rose-lips
Was kissed away by me and you.--
And now across the frosty lawn
Black foot-prints trail, and Age comes on--
And Age comes on!
And biting wild-winds whistle through
Our tattered hopes--and Age comes on!
When Age comes on!--
O tide of raptures, long withdrawn,
Flow back in summer-floods, and fling
Here at our feet our childhood sweet,
And all the songs we used to sing! . . .
Old loves, old friends--all dead and gone--
Our old faith lost--and Age comes on--
And Age comes on!
Poor hearts! have we not anything
But longings left when Age comes on?
Just as of old! The world rolls on and on;
The day dies into night--night into dawn--
Dawn into dusk--through centuries untold.--
Just as of old.
Time loiters not. The river ever flows,
Its brink or white with blossoms or with snows;
Its tide or warm with Spring or Winter cold:
Just as of old.
Lo! where is the beginning, where the end
Of living, loving, longing? Listen, friend!--
God answers with a silence of pure gold--
Just as of old.
Scheme | AbcxcbaAca AbdxdbaAda abeE ffeE ggeE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111 010011101 11010001 01011111 11011101 01010101 11110111 0111 01011101 101010111 1111 1111101 11010101 111011011 01011111 11111101 101110111 0111 1111110 11011111 1111011101 0110111011 1011110001 1111 111010101 1111110111 1111111101 1111 1110010101 1101010101 1101010111 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,102 |
Words | 208 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 169 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 126 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"When Age Comes On" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21176/when-age-comes-on>.
Discuss this James Whitcomb Riley poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In