On the Shining Way by Sarah Noble Ives
"On the Shining Way" by Sarah Noble Ives is a short lyric poem describing childhood as a journey along a path called the Shining Way. Children fresh from the dawn of life travel this road through the happy Childhood land, carefree, with nothing on their minds but play. Beneath their shining hair lies no care, where the sunrise stores its beams; the wind that blows upon them is the wind of morn, coming from the shore of the Sea of Dreams. The poem declares that there is no other way so glad and sweet, and no other sky so blue, and that the joy of this road for children is that nothing but dreams come true. Along the way lie great dream meadows and purple hills known only to the children, who alone can tell where the tall dream cities rise and where the sweet dream flowers grow. The poem closes by noting that the children pass onward by the milestone years toward the land where the grown folks stay, and that only once in life is this journey made, along the wonderful Shining Way.
By Sarah Noble Ives · First published 1899 · Genre: Poetry, Children's Literature, Fantasy · 204 words
First lines
All through the happy Childhood land / They travel the Shining Way, / The children fresh from the dawn of life, / With never a thought but play.
There's never a care 'neath the shining hair / Where the sunrise stores its beams; / The wind that blows is the wind of morn / From the shore of the Sea of Dreams.
There's no other way so glad and sweet, / And no other sky so blue, / And the joy of the road to the children is / That nothing but dreams come true.
There are great dream meadows and purple hills / That only the children know; / They can tell where the tall dream cities rise, / And the sweet dream flowers grow.
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Genres
- Poetry — The work is composed entirely in verse with a consistent rhyme scheme and lyrical structure, employing poetic devices such as metaphor, imagery, and rhythm as its primary mode of expression.
- Children's Literature — The poem is explicitly centered on children and childhood, exploring the perspective and experience of children navigating the world through imagination and play, with themes and language designed to resonate with or about young audiences.
- Fantasy — The work contains fantastical elements including magical landscapes (dream meadows, purple hills, dream cities, the Sea of Dreams) where 'nothing but dreams come true,' creating an enchanted, otherworldly setting.
- Allegory — The journey along the Shining Way functions as a symbolic representation of the passage from childhood innocence to adulthood, with distinct stages and a singular, irreversible transition ('only once is the journey made').
Tags
childhood · children's poetry · journey · dreams · imagination · innocence · wonder · play · coming of age · transience · nostalgia · carefree
What this Textopian page supports
On the Shining Way is listed on Textopian as a poem by Sarah Noble Ives, dated 1899 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Sarah Noble Ives
- Date: 1899 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Children's Literature, Fantasy, Allegory, Philosophical Poetry
- Length: 204 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for On the Shining Way by Sarah Noble Ives
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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