Will Ever the Dear Days Come Back again?
The speaker wonders whether cherished June days will return and says a formless presence will remain in the room. Remembered words seemed to approach the heart's hidden places, stirring delight and fear as a voice urged it to open.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Sonnet, Lyric Poetry, Nostalgic Poetry · 171 words
First lines
Will ever the dear days come back again, / Those days of June, when lilacs were in bloom, / And bluebirds sang their sonnets in the gloom / Of leaves that roofed them in from sun or rain? / I know not; but a presence will remain / Forever and forever in this room, / Formless, diffused in air, like a perfume, -- / A phantom of the heart, and not the brain. / Delicious days! when every spoken word / Was like a foot-fall nearer and more near, / And a mysterious knocking at the gate / Of the heart's secret places, and we heard / In the sweet tumult of delight and fear / A voice that whispered, "Open, I cannot wait! "
What this Textopian page supports
Will Ever the Dear Days Come Back again? is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Sonnet, Lyric Poetry, Nostalgic Poetry
- Length: 171 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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- Work identity for Will Ever the Dear Days Come Back again? by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Genres
- Sonnet — Fourteen rhymed lines move from a question about lost June days to remembered words and a voice asking the heart to open.
- Lyric Poetry — A first-person speaker expresses longing through recollections of lilacs, bluebirds, and words that stirred delight and fear.
- Nostalgic Poetry — The speaker asks whether cherished days will return and describes a presence that will endure after them.
Tags
memory · longing · June · emotional intimacy · sonnet