In both Piano and The Days Gone By, the authors create a warm and nostalgic feeling towards their childhoods through the imagery and tone of the poems.
By discussing warm moments in time, from both the present and the past, the author of Piano portrays the security and happy innocence of his childhood. Before discussing his own childhood, the poet describes a present day scene of lighthearted joy that reminds him of the past. He describes "a child sitting under the piano... and pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings" (Piano 3-4) The child being underneath the piano, as opposed to sitting next to his mother, creates a sense of innocence as the child is almost unaware of his surroundings and the beauty of being able to see the inner workings of the instrument or his mother's graceful fingers. In addition, his mother is smiling while she sings, which shows the happiness that surrounds being a child. In addition to the clear happiness in smiling, music itself provides an overwhelming sense of feeling, usually positive, and the ability to lose oneself in emotion, similar to the previously mentioned innocence. This visual brings the poet back to his childhood, as he wishes he could go back in time to those amazing moments. He describes his own childhood memories as "hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide" (Piano 8). Using the word "hymns" instead of "songs" provide a sense of comfort because hymns are often associated with religion. By referring to the parlour as "cosy" instead of "comfortable," there is a stronger association with love and family, similar to using "home" instead of "house." The author of Piano further expresses his emotion towards his childhood by saying that he "weep[s] like a child for the past" (Piano 12). In addition to showing his love for his childhood, this statement portrays the freedom for children to openly express their emotions, which the author also desires. Through both the descriptions of the past and present, the author of Piano expresses his nostalgia towards his childhood and the comfort and warmth it provided.
Similarly, the author of The Days Gone By expresses his admiration towards his childhood. Several times, the poet uses the phrase "O the days gone by!" (The Days Gone By 1). Had the author used the same statement without the initial interjection or the final punctuation mark, the statement would not have the same impact. By including these two features, and repeating the exclamation multiple times, the author is able to portray the emotion and excitement he has about the days that have passed. In addition, the author uses a rhyming pattern of couplets, which portrays a jovial, innocent, childlike tone to the poem, allowing the reader to understand the author's happiness about the subject. In the first stanza, the poet focuses on imagery of beautiful aspects of nature in a meadow, portraying the beauty of childhood. For example, he discusses that "the bloom was on the clover, and the blue was in the sky," which is an image filled with beauty and vibrancy (The Days Gone By 5). In the second stanza, the poet focuses more on the innocence that childhood involves, using descriptive words such as "tangled" and "tripped" to describe aspects of nature, though not with a negative connotation, but to add to nature's beauty (The Days Gone By 8). In the final stanza, similar to in Piano, the author uses the imagery of music to portray the beauty and happiness of his childhood. He also reminisces over the belief in magic that he had as a child, stating that there was a "simple. soul-reposing, glad belief in everything," which reinforces how the innocence he had as a child made his childhood happy and beautiful (The Days Gone By 16). He calls his childhood "a story, holding neither sob nor sigh," in that it was a simpler time where he was happier (The Days Gone By 17).
Overall, both authors use imagery to portray the beauty and innocence of their childhoods and how the past was a happier, more jovial time.
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