# Hide and Seek explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Henry van Dyke Jr..

## What happens

A nostalgic poem reflecting on a game of hide and seek with a child, now grown and gone, yet the speaker holds onto hope that love endures and they will be reunited.

## Themes in this chapter

### Grief and Memory

The speaker mourns the loss of the child and clings to memories of their game.

### Love and Sacrifice

Love is portrayed as enduring beyond separation, with the speaker's patient hope.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who recalls playing hide and seek with a child and now searches for him.

### Aldrich

The little boy addressed as 'Barney' and 'my boy,' the lost child of the speaker.

## Key lines

> Long ago he left me, long and long ago; Now I wander thro' the world, seeking high and low.

It has been many years since he departed; I now travel everywhere in search of him.

_Expresses the speaker's enduring quest for the lost child._

> Love may hide itself awhile, but love can never die.

Love can remain concealed for a time, but it is eternal.

_Central theme of love's immortality._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters/hide-and-seek
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters