Time Long Past by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The speaker recalls vanished hopes, love, and dreams, and the wish that earlier days might last. Regret approaches remorse as lost time is compared to a dead friend and a beloved child's body watched by a father.
By Percy Bysshe Shelley · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Nostalgic Poetry, Elegiac Poetry · 171 words
First lines
1.
Like the ghost of a dear friend dead / Is Time long past. / A tone which is now forever fled, / A hope which is now forever past, / A love so sweet it could not last, / Was Time long past.
2.
There were sweet dreams in the night / Of Time long past: / And, was it sadness or delight, / Each day a shadow onward cast / Which made us wish it yet might last- / That Time long past.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Three rhymed stanzas express sorrow for the past through a repeated refrain.
- Nostalgic Poetry — The speaker remembers sweet love and dreams, alongside the former wish that those days might continue.
- Elegiac Poetry — The lament for lost time compares its absence to a dead friend and a beloved child's body.
Tags
memory · lost time · regret · nostalgia · vanished love
What this Textopian page supports
Time Long Past is listed on Textopian as a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 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: Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Nostalgic Poetry, Elegiac Poetry
- Length: 171 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for Time Long Past by Percy Bysshe Shelley
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