Archaic word meaning 'soon after' or 'shortly,' used in older English texts and poetry.
From Old English eft (again) + sona (soon). A compound adverb that literally meant 'again soon,' eventually contracted to describe something happening shortly after another event.
Medieval poets loved 'eftsoon' because its double meaning (again + soon) created poetic ambiguity—did something repeat, or happen soon?—which gave writers useful grammatical wiggle room.
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