Jacques Sernas
Stefano Manfredi
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A nostalgic poem that recalls the poet's childhood memories of a seaside town and a Lapland song. The poem explores the themes of youth, time, and loss through the repetition of the phrase "A boy's will is the wind's will".
- Summary of My Lost Youth
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- Literary Devices
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The poetic personaof the poem starts with a description of the old town where once he lived. The streets of the town, tossing of the sea waves, and the woods surrounding the town, are what he sees in his imagination. He becomes a boy again and captures those memories. The poet can recall how his boyish imagination made everything gleaming during hi...
The title of the poem, ‘My Lost Youth’, refers to Longfellow’s youth. Longfellow was once a boy, brimming with the vigor of youthfulness. But, in the present moment, while he thinks about his boyish days, he can see only vacant memories. It was he who made those places described in the poem colorful. When he thinks of those days, he can see the pla...
The poem consists of a total of ten stanzas. Each stanza contains nine lines in it. The rhyme scheme of the poem is regular yet interesting. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABAABCDDE and goes on like this. The internal rhyming of the lines maintains the overall flow of the text. However, the metrical pattern of the poem doesn’t follow a set pattern...
There are several literary devices in the poem, ‘My Lost Youth’that make the remembrances of the poet’s past more appealing to the readers. Likewise, the poem begins with a personification. In the first stanza, the poet personifies his old town. The poet uses anaphora throughout the poem. This device connects the sense of the lines in which it’s us...
In this poem, ‘My Lost Youth’ there are some important themes such as youth, adulthood vs youth, memories, time, love, pain, and longing. The most important theme of the poem is youth. Here, the poet talks about his youthful days when he was young both physically and mentally. Everything then seemed to be joyous and mysterious to the poet. But, now...
Stanza One
Longfellow’s ‘My Lost Youth’ begins with the description of the poet’s old town in Portland, Maine. The poet thinks of the beautiful town that is seated by the sea. He often revisits the town in his imagination. In his thought, he goes up and down the pleasant streets of that old town. The streets are dearer to the poet still. Thereafter, he says that in the thoughts he gets his youth back. Along with that, “a verse of a Lapland song” haunts his memory. Thereafter, he quotes two lines of that...
Stanza Two
In the second stanza, the poet says he can clearly see the shadowy lines of the trees of the town. In sudden gleams, he captures the shining water of the “far-surrounding” seas. So, the sea is far enough and encircles the town. There are a few islands on the sea. In his boyhood, the poet thought the islands were like Hesperides. Hesperides is a mythical garden at the very western limits of the world. The earth offered them to Hera when she married Zeus. Thereafter, he again hears that old son...
Stanza Three
Thereafter, in the third stanza, the poet remembers the black wharves and the slips. And, the sea tides that are tossing free on the wharves. He can also visualize the Spanish sailors, their lips covered with beards. When the poet was a boy, the beauty and mystery of the ships anchored nearby and the magic of the sea mesmerized him. Suddenly, his daydreaming comes to an end as the voiceof that wayward song resonates in his mind again. Someone is singing these lines, “A boy’s will is the wind’...
The poem ‘My Last Youth’contains several references to the poet’s native town, Portland, Maine. During one of his visits to Portland in 1846, Longfellow relates how he took a long walk around Munjoy’s hill and down to the old Fort Lawrence. Longfellow says, During that time, he didn’t write any poem regarding this theme. However, in 1855, when in C...
The following poems are similar to the theme and subject matter of Longfellow‘s poem. 1. Youth and Ageby Samuel Taylor Coleridge– It’s one of the best Samuel Taylor Coleridge poems. Here, the poet presents a contrast between youth and old age. 2. You Are Old, Father Williamby Lewis Carroll– In this poem, the poet presents the theme of the generatio...
The poem reflects on the poet's memories of his youthful days in Portland, Maine, where he was born and grew up. He recalls the sights, sounds, and feelings of his native place, and how they are linked to a Lapland song that haunts him.
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In "Youth and Age," Samuel Taylor Coleridge explores the stark contrast between the vivacity of youth and the weariness of old age. The poem reflects on the loss of the boundless energy and enthusiasm that accompanies youth, emphasizing the fleetingness of life.
A lyrical autobiography of the poet's early life in Portland, Maine, where he remembers his boyhood dreams, adventures, and losses. The poem uses repetition, variation, and a Lapland song refrain to express the nostalgia and melancholy of lost youth.
A nostalgic poem that reflects on the poet's childhood memories and the fleeting nature of youth. The poem uses a Lapland song as a recurring motif to express the contrast between the past and the present.
Sep 10, 2019 · A collection of poems that celebrate, reflect, or lament youth and being young, from Milton to Owen. Explore themes of nostalgia, hope, beauty, and loss in these literary works.
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reminisces about his childhood in Portland, Maine, and how his memories are triggered by a Lapland song. He expresses his longing for his lost youth and the dreams that cannot die.
