On Leaving a Place of Residence
If I could bid thee, pleasant shade, farewellWithout a sigh, amidst whose circling bowersMy stripling prime was passed, and happiest hours,Dead were I to the sympathies that swellThe human breast! These woods, that whispering wave,My father reared and nursed, now to the graveGone down; he loved their peaceful shades, and said,Perhaps, as here he mused: Live, laurels green;Ye pines that shade the solitary scene,Live blooming and rejoice! When I am deadMy son shall guard you, and amid your bowers,Like me, find shelter from life's beating showers.These thoughts, my father, every spot endear;And whilst I think, with self-accusing pain,A stranger shall possess the loved domain,In each low wind I seem thy voice to hear.But these are shadows of the shaping brainThat now my heart, alas! can ill sustain:We must forget--the world is wide--the abodeOf peace may still be found, nor hard the road.It boots not, so, to every chance resigned,Where'er the spot, we bear the unaltered mind.Yet, oh! poor cottage, and thou sylvan shade,Remember, ere I left your coverts green,Where in my youth I mused, in childhood played,I gazed, I paused, I dropped a tear unseen,That bitter from the font of memory fell,Thinking on him who reared you; now, farewell!
Words in this poem
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- stripling n.
- A youth in the state of adolescence, or just passing from boyhood to manhood; a lad. [Dim. of strip; as if a small strip from the main stock or steam.]
- 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,]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- endear v. t.
- To make dear or beloved.
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- resigned a.
- Submissive; yielding; not disposed to resist or murmur.
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Leaving a Place of Residence is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 1 With Memoir, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by George Gilfillan, Project Gutenberg ebook #18915; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Lisle Bowles, On Leaving a Place of Residence, in The Poetical Works, Volume I (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/on-leaving-a-place-of-residence.html, id L09930.
Form and metre
On Leaving a Place of Residence is 28 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBACCDEEDBBFGGFGGHHIIJEJEAA. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBACCDEEDBBFGGFGGHHIIJEJEAA farewellA · bowersB · hoursB · swellA · waveC · graveC · saidD · greenE · sceneE · deadD · bowersB · showersB · endearF · painG · domainG · hearF · brainG · sustainG · abodeH · roadH · resignedI · mindI · shadeJ · greenE · playedJ · unseenE · fellA · farewellA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| If I could bid thee, pleasant shade, farewell | 10 | ·····/˘··/ |
| Without a sigh, amidst whose circling bowers | 10 | ····˘/·/˘/ |
| My stripling prime was passed, and happiest hours, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘/ |
| Dead were I to the sympathies that swell | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| The human breast! These woods, that whispering wave, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| My father reared and nursed, now to the grave | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Gone down; he loved their peaceful shades, and said, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Perhaps, as here he mused: Live, laurels green; | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Ye pines that shade the solitary scene, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Live blooming and rejoice! When I am dead | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| My son shall guard you, and amid your bowers, | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| Like me, find shelter from life's beating showers. | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| These thoughts, my father, every spot endear; | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| And whilst I think, with self-accusing pain, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| A stranger shall possess the loved domain, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| In each low wind I seem thy voice to hear. | 10 | ·········· |
| But these are shadows of the shaping brain | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| That now my heart, alas! can ill sustain: | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| We must forget--the world is wide--the abode | 11 | ··˘/·····˘/ |
| Of peace may still be found, nor hard the road. | 10 | ·········· |
| It boots not, so, to every chance resigned, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Where'er the spot, we bear the unaltered mind. | 12 | ˘˘/·····˘/˘· |
| Yet, oh! poor cottage, and thou sylvan shade, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Remember, ere I left your coverts green, | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Where in my youth I mused, in childhood played, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| I gazed, I paused, I dropped a tear unseen, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| That bitter from the font of memory fell, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Thinking on him who reared you; now, farewell! | 10 | /˘·······/ |
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.