Now Long Ago
Now Long Ago - meaning Summary
Memory as Seasonal Absence
The poem describes a remembered but muted intimacy that once meant little, then later haunted the speaker. Using seasonal imagery, it contrasts an indifferent spring with a passionate, brief summer that erases what came before. The speaker feels an emotional vacancy—no dramatic response when the name is spoken—yet silence at night unlocks lingering presence and longing, turning memory into a private, persistent ache.
Read Complete AnalysesOne innocent spring your voice meant to me less than tires turning on a distant street. Your name, perhaps spoken, led no chorus of batons unrehearsed to crush against my empty chest. That cool spring was shortened by your summer, bold, impatient and all forgotten except when silence turns the key into my midnight bedroom and comes to sleep upon your pillow.
The title is confusing but has both past and present glaring at the reader.