Days Poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Days

Rating: 2.9


Daughters of Time, the hypocritic Days,
Muffled and dumb like barefoot dervishes,
And marching single in an endless file,
Bring diadems and fagots in their hands.
To each they offer gifts after his will,
Bread, kingdom, stars, and sky that holds them all.

I, in my pleached garden, watched the pomp,
Forgot my morning wishes, hastily
Took a few herbs and apples, and the Day
Turned and departed silent. I, too late,
Under her solemn fillet saw the scorn.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Michael Pruchnicki 30 December 2009

Get the images of Emerson's 'Days' clear before launching off in some convoluted scheme based on misunderstanding the connotation and denotation of the words in the poem! Read closely and you will comprehend, I think! The daughters of Time who spin their hours are LIKE barefoot dervishes - note the simile - which is a Moslem religious order whose members practice whirling so as to induce a hypnotic state (though male, they wear skirts and conical hats) . Recall Coleridge's poem 'Kubla Khan' which should come to mind as you read 'Days' - that's what connote means, lads! Check out 'hypocycloid, ' which is exactly what dervishes do in geometrical terms - they roll around the inner circumference of another circle endlessly (it seems!) The last line refers to the headbands the daughters wear - each her own solemn fillet bound around her head! Diadems refer to the royal gifts each brings. The speaker laments that he filches a few herbs and apples and thereby earns the scorn of departing Day! All those riches offered - from bread to the stars and sky he has ignored. 'Could I revive within me /her symphony and song' Coleridge's speaker in 'Kubla Khan' agrres!

9 3 Reply
Maliha Khan 28 April 2018

can you plz further explain this? i am still not clear

0 0
John Doe 24 January 2012

I find that the givin author speaks in riddles of which i can not understand, when attempting to find one who can decipher this poem i am greeted by another bombardment of large and old timey words.

3 4 Reply
Ramesh T A 30 December 2009

Nature is more than all the things kingdom can give; but we forget it in the mundane things of the world and waste our time! Message is wonderful!

4 3 Reply
Joseph Poewhit 30 December 2009

I could picture him in that garden with apples and herbs. Much more quiet time.[Dervishes - a new word-thanks Kevin for the Def. ]

4 2 Reply
Ratnakar Mandlik 29 November 2019

Muffled and dumb like barefoot dervishes. What a conceptualization?

0 0 Reply
Ratnakar Mandlik 29 January 2019

A profound and great poem describing some sour facts about life and living of human beings with their shortcomings.

0 0 Reply
Edward Kofi Louis 29 January 2019

Saw the scorn! ! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.

0 0 Reply
Dr Antony Theodore 29 January 2019

Muffled and dumb like barefoot dervishes, And marching single in an endless file, Bring diadems and in their hands. a very fine poem.. indeed. tony

2 0 Reply
Adrian Flett 29 January 2019

Time, the thief, is endless and pitiless as it marches ever on. 'And marching single in an endless file, '

1 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Boston / United States
Close
Error Success