Old Time Melody by Marie Van Vorst
The speaker mourns a beloved person who has died, recalling the pleasures of travel, first snow, and green forests, yet recognizing that neither homeland nor familiar places can console them. What they truly long for is the love and world created by the departed one; their deepest desire is for the path beyond the grave that would reunite them.
By Marie Van Vorst · First published 1904 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Elegy, Mourning Poetry · 153 words
First lines
I'm pining away for the way I'd go, / I'm pining away for the things I've seen, / For the joy of the fall of the first white snow, / And the sweep of the forest green.
But it's not for the home-land, broad and fair; / The house on the hill, or the old ways spread; -- / For why should I wander here or there, / Since you went down to the dead?
I'm pining away for the love you gave, / For the world that you made, when your life lay here. / And the path to the country beyond the grave / Is the way that I pine for, dear!
What this Textopian page supports
Old Time Melody is listed on Textopian as a poem by Marie Van Vorst, dated 1904 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Marie Van Vorst
- Date: 1904 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Elegy, Mourning Poetry, Love Poetry, Romantic Poetry
- Length: 153 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Old Time Melody by Marie Van Vorst
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a brief, highly musical first-person poem built from rhythmic lines, repeated phrasing, and concentrated emotional expression.
- Elegy — Its central subject is grief for a beloved who has died, with the speaker longing for reunion beyond the grave.
- Mourning Poetry — The speaker explicitly dwells on loss, bereavement, and the emotional emptiness left by the loved one's death.
- Love Poetry — The poem addresses a dear beloved and emphasizes the sustaining love that once transformed the speaker's world.
Tags
fiction · novel · romance · romantic fiction · sentimental fiction · domestic fiction · social drama · family relationships · love and marriage · society · class differences · personal growth