# Retrospect explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Georgia Douglas Johnson.

## What happens

The speaker reflects on past love that has long since died, wishing they could trade their current wealth for the memories of that lost affection.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Loss

The poem mourns kisses spurned long ago and the death of love over time.

### The Passing of Time and Mortality

Years flow over the dead love, emphasizing the irreversible passage of time.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker laments spurned love and longs for memories over material wealth.

### Life

Referenced indirectly through the passage of years and the death of love.

## Key lines

> Love’s kisses spurned so long ago, Dead as the years, that o’er them flow;

The love I rejected in the past is now as dead as the years that have passed over it.

_The speaker acknowledges the finality of lost love and the passage of time._

> And now, my gilded treasuries Would I might give—for memories.

I would trade all my precious riches just to have those memories back.

_The speaker values memories of love above material wealth._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_9_se/chapters/retrospect
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_9_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_9_se/chapters