A Melancholy Lover's Farewell to His Mistress
My Phillis, all my hopes are o'er,And I shall see thy face no more.Since ev'ry secret wish is vain,I will not stay to give thee pain.Then do not hang thy low'ring brow,But let me bless thee ere I go:I've lov'd thee long, and lov'd thee true.
The prospects of my youth are crost,My health is flown, my vigour lost;My soothing friends augment my pain,And cheerless is my native plain;Dark o'er my spirit hangs the gloom,And thy disdain has fix'd my doom.But light gales ruffle o'er the sea,Which soon shall bear me far from thee;And wherefoe'er our course is cast,I know will bear me to my rest.Full deep beneath the briny wave,Where rest the venturous and brave,A place may be decreed for me;And should no tempest raise the sea,Far hence upon a foreign land,Whose sons, perhaps, with friendly handThe stranger's lowly tomb may raise;A broken heart will end my days.
But Heaven's blessing on thee rest!And may no troubles vex thy breast!Perhaps, when pensive and alone,You'll think of me when I am gone;And gentle tears of pity shed,When I am in my narrow bed.Yet softly let thy sorrow flow!And greater may'st thou never know!All free from worldly care and strife,Long may'ft thou live a happy life!And ev'ry earthly blessing find,Thou loveliest of womankind:And blest thy secret wishes be!Tho' cruel thou hast been to me.
And do'st thou then thine arm extendAnd may I take thy lovely hand?And do thine eyes thus gently look,As tho' some kindly wish they spoke?My gentle Phillis, tho' severe,I do not grudge the ills I bear;But still my greatest grief will be,To think my love has troubled thee.O, do not scorn this swelling grief!The laden bosom seeks relief:Nor yet this infant weakness blame,For thou hast made me what I am.But hark! the sailors call away,No longer may I ling'ring stay;May peace within thy mansion dwell!O, gentle Phillis, fare thee well!
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- vigour v. t.
- To invigorate. Feltham.
- briny a.
- Of or pertaining to brine, or to the sea; partaking of the nature of brine; salt; as, a briny taste; the briny flood. [From Brine.]
- venturous a.
- Daring; bold; hardy; fearless; venturesome; adveturous; as, a venturous soldier. [Aphetic form of OE. aventurous. See Adventurous, Venture, n.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- womankind n.
- The females of the human race; women, collectively.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Melancholy Lover's Farewell to His Mistress is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, &c. (1790) Wherein It Is Attempted To Describe Certain Views Of Nature And Of Rustic Manners; And Also, To Point Out, In Some Instances, The Different Influence Which The Same Circumstances Produce On Different Characters, Project Gutenberg ebook #14617; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Joanna Baillie, A Melancholy Lover's Farewell to His Mistress, in Poems (1790) (1790), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14617, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/baillie-poems/a-melancholy-lover-s-farewell-to-his-mistress.html, id L09858.
Form and metre
A Melancholy Lover's Farewell to His Mistress is 55 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 73% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 --AA--- o'er · more · vainA · painA · brow · go · true
- 2 AABBCCDD--EEDDFFGG crostA · lostA · painB · plainB · gloomC · doomC · seaD · theeD · cast · rest · waveE · braveE · meD · seaD · landF · handF · raiseG · daysG
- 3 AA--BBCCDDEEFF restA · breastA · alone · gone · shedB · bedB · flowC · knowC · strifeD · lifeD · findE · womankindE · beF · meF
- 4 ----AABBCC--DDEE extend · hand · look · spoke · severeA · bearA · beB · theeB · griefC · reliefC · blame · am · awayD · stayD · dwellE · wellE
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| My Phillis, all my hopes are o'er, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And I shall see thy face no more. | 8 | ········ |
| Since ev'ry secret wish is vain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I will not stay to give thee pain. | 8 | ········ |
| Then do not hang thy low'ring brow, | 8 | ········ |
| But let me bless thee ere I go: | 8 | ········ |
| I've lov'd thee long, and lov'd thee true. | 8 | ········ |
| The prospects of my youth are crost, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My health is flown, my vigour lost; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My soothing friends augment my pain, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| And cheerless is my native plain; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Dark o'er my spirit hangs the gloom, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And thy disdain has fix'd my doom. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| But light gales ruffle o'er the sea, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which soon shall bear me far from thee; | 8 | ········ |
| And wherefoe'er our course is cast, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| I know will bear me to my rest. | 8 | ········ |
| Full deep beneath the briny wave, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where rest the venturous and brave, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| A place may be decreed for me; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And should no tempest raise the sea, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Far hence upon a foreign land, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whose sons, perhaps, with friendly hand | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The stranger's lowly tomb may raise; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A broken heart will end my days. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But Heaven's blessing on thee rest! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And may no troubles vex thy breast! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Perhaps, when pensive and alone, | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| You'll think of me when I am gone; | 8 | ········ |
| And gentle tears of pity shed, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When I am in my narrow bed. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yet softly let thy sorrow flow! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And greater may'st thou never know! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| All free from worldly care and strife, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Long may'ft thou live a happy life! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And ev'ry earthly blessing find, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Thou loveliest of womankind: | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And blest thy secret wishes be! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Tho' cruel thou hast been to me. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And do'st thou then thine arm extend | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And may I take thy lovely hand? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And do thine eyes thus gently look, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As tho' some kindly wish they spoke? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My gentle Phillis, tho' severe, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| I do not grudge the ills I bear; | 8 | ········ |
| But still my greatest grief will be, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To think my love has troubled thee. | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| O, do not scorn this swelling grief! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The laden bosom seeks relief: | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Nor yet this infant weakness blame, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| For thou hast made me what I am. | 8 | ········ |
| But hark! the sailors call away, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| No longer may I ling'ring stay; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| May peace within thy mansion dwell! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O, gentle Phillis, fare thee well! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.