The poet repeats the word still in the seventh line of most stanzas. Which theme does this repetition most clearly convey? Often I think of the beautiful town
That is seated by the sea;
Often in thought go up and down
The pleasant streets of that dear old town
5 And my youth comes back to me.
And a verse of a Lapland song
Is haunting my memory still:
"A boy’s will is the wind’s will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

10 I can see the shadowy lines of its trees,
And catch, in sudden gleams,
The sheen of the far surrounding seas,
And islands that were the Hesperides
Of all my boyish dreams.
15 And the burden of that old song,
It murmurs and whispers still:
"A boy’s will is the wind’s will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

I remember the black wharves and the slips,
20 And the sea tides tossing free;
And Spanish sai

Wanting his past i.e. his lost youth

Explanation:

Repetition is characterized as one of the most commonly employed literary devices where the author repeats a particular word or phrase in order to emphasize an idea or to make it more memorable.

In the given poem 'My Lost Youth' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the speaker is recalling his beautiful carefree days of youth and those memories which still haunts his memory. He constantly repeats the word 'still' and 'will' which enforces the idea that those memories are constant and his wishes to get those days back. However, he later displays his disappointment to not get his joyous past back irrespective of how hard he tries.

the significance of the title, "the passing", is related to the fact that the main characters, who are three african-american descendant women, are passing as white. this means that, because of their light-coloured skins they look like white women. one of the three friends, clare, is married to a white man and she lives in a white community and she has never told her husband that she is black. the title can easily be connected to the idea of pretending to be someone you are not and of losing your real identity in order to be accepted by society.