Villanelle of Change by Edwin Arlington Robinson
“Villanelle of Change” reflects on the passage of immense spans of time since Persia’s defeat at Marathon. Though legend claims that the plain still erupts at night with spectral echoes of the ancient battle and the rapture that once shook Helicon, the poem stresses that the old Greek glory and shame have vanished into silent Acheron. The repeated refrain insists that centuries have passed, and that all the suns of Hellas, from the first to the last, have risen and fallen.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1897 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Villanelle, Historical Poetry · 153 words
First lines
SINCE Persia fell at Marathon, / The yellow years have gathered fast:
Long centuries have come and gone.
And yet (they say) the place will don
A phantom fury of the past,
What this Textopian page supports
Villanelle of Change is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1897 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1897 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Villanelle, Historical Poetry, Classical Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 153 words
- Structure: 1 section, 13 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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- Work identity for Villanelle of Change by Edwin Arlington Robinson
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a concise, musical meditation voiced through imagery, repetition, and emotional reflection rather than narrative plot.
- Villanelle — It uses the defining villanelle structure of nineteen lines, five tercets and a concluding quatrain, with the alternating refrains 'Since Persia fell at Marathon' and 'Long centuries have come and gone.'
- Historical Poetry — Its subject is the Battle of Marathon and the long aftermath of the Greco-Persian conflict, invoking Persia, Greece, Hellas, and Greek historical glory.
- Classical Poetry — The poem relies on classical Greek geography, mythology, and cultural memory, including Marathon, Helicon, Acheron, and Hellas.
Tags
poetry · villanelle · change · transience · time · mortality · reflection · melancholy · philosophical · lyrical · repetition · impermanence