Classic and Contemporary Poetry
DAYS THAT HAVE BEEN, by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES Poet Analysis First Line: Can I forget the sweet days that have been Last Line: In memory of the sweet days that have been. Alternate Author Name(s): Davies, W. H. Subject(s): Wales; Welshmen; Welshwomen | ||||||||
CAN I forget the sweet days that have been, When poetry first began to warm my blood; When from the hills of Gwent I saw the earth Burned into two by Severn's silver flood: When I would go alone at night to see The moonlight, like a big white butterfly, Dreaming on that old castle near Caerleon, While at its side the Usk went softly by: When I would stare at lovely clouds in Heaven, Or watch them when reported by deep streams; When feeling pressed like thunder, but would not Break into that grand music of my dreams? Can I forget the sweet days that have been, The villages so green I have been in; Llantarnam, Magor, Malpas, and Llanwern, Liswery, old Caerleon, and Alteryn? Can I forget the banks of Malpas Brook, Or Ebbw's voice in such a wild delight, As on he dashed with pebbles in his throat, Gurgling towards the sea with all his might? Ah, when I see a leafy village now I sigh and ask it for Llantarnam's green; I ask each river where is Ebbw's voice -- In memory of the sweet days that have been. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ANTICHRIST, OR THE REUNION OF CHRISTENDOM; AN ODE by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON WALES VISITATION by ALLEN GINSBERG WELSH INCIDENT by ROBERT RANKE GRAVES THE BARD; A PINDARIC ODE by THOMAS GRAY THE TRIUMPHS OF OWEN: A FRAGMENT by THOMAS GRAY WELSH LANDSCAPE by RONALD STUART THOMAS A BIRD'S ANGER by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES |
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