Those Dancing Days Are Gone
Those Dancing Days Are Gone - meaning Summary
Loss and Defiant Consolation
The speaker addresses a listener about lost youth and pleasures, insisting that outward charms and past lovers are gone or dead. Rather than lament, he claims an inner, enduring possession—"the sun in a golden cup" and "the moon in a silver bag"—as symbols of spiritual wealth or artistic power. The poem contrasts physical decay and social decline with defiant self-sufficiency and calm acceptance of aging and mortality.
Read Complete AnalysesCome, let me sing into your ear; Those dancing days are gone, All that silk and satin gear; Crouch upon a stone, Wrapping that foul body up In as foul a rag: I carry the sun in a golden cup. The moon in a silver bag. Curse as you may I sing it through; What matter if the knave That the most could pleasure you, The children that he gave, Are somewhere sleeping like a top Under a marble flag? I carry the sun in a golden cup. The moon in a silver bag. I thought it out this very day. Noon upon the clock, A man may put pretence away Who leans upon a stick, May sing, and sing until he drop, Whether to maid or hag: I carry the sun in a golden cup, The moon in a silver bag.
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