All in the golden afternoon...

[1] Carroll's "All in the golden afternoon" has been included in some film and stage adaptations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, including Walt Disney's 1951 animated adaptation where it was used as a song title and a 1972 play version created by director André Gregory, who used portions of the first and last stanzas of the poem to introduce the play's plot.

[3] All in the golden afternoon Full leisurely we glide; For both our oars, with little skill, By little arms are plied, While little hands make vain pretence Our wanderings to guide.

Anon, to sudden silence won, In fancy they pursue The dream-child moving through a land Of wonders wild and new, In friendly chat with bird or beast— And half believe it true.

A childish story take, And with a gentle hand, Lay it where Childhood's dreams are twined In Memory's mystic band, Like pilgrim's withered wreath of flowers Plucked in far-off land.

This poem depicts the story of how, during the summer of 1862 and in the company of the three Liddell sisters and Reverend Robinson Duckworth, Lewis Carroll composed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

[1] During the summer, the group would often take expeditions up the Isis branch of the Thames river, complete with picnic baskets and lessons in the art of rowing.

He felt that his tale was a bit frightening for sensitive, young children, and he hoped that the poem would soften the fearfulness of the story and present a gateway into Wonderland.

In doing so, Carroll dropped the original dedication to Alice Liddell which had read: "A Christmas Gift to a Dear Child in Memory of a Summer Day."

William Madden suggests that Carroll chose this outdated form of poetry for a purpose—the poems were not meant to stand alone, but to be a framework for the main piece of literature, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.