Analysis for “It Was Long Ago” Essay Example

deliberately simple. Words are uncomplicated, tending to be single syllables, with considerable repetition of words.

The first line in every stanza ends with the word 'remember, and there is only two other thyme sounds 'ee' and 'oh', used absolutely regularly throughout the poem. The rhythm is gentle and slow, appropriate to the subject matter. Such structural economy and simplicity form a very appropriate vehicle with which to recreate a childhood memory.

Throughout the recreation, the poet seeks to involve our senses. She introduces concrete objects ('a mountain, an old house, and a tree'), and simple colors ('in a red shawl with a grey cat'), to help us visualize the scene.

She invites us to hear the memory ('and while she hummed, and the cat purred'), to taste it ('... the taste of berries'), and feel it ('the feel of the sun I remember) as she draws upon her own sense memories. Thus, the memory is evoked for us in a much clearer way.

Summary: Through the pet's skill in using appropriately simple words, structure, and rhythm, to recreate her earliest memory, she successfully involves us in the poem. For all its simplicity, the poem has gentle robustness to it. We share the uncluttered goodness of the incident and are left with some wistful longings for our own childhood.