Farewell! If Ever Fondest Prayer
Farewell! if ever fondest prayerFor other's weal availed on high,Mine will not all be lost in air,But waft thy name beyond the sky.'Twere vain to speak--to weep--to sigh:Oh! more than tears of blood can tell,When wrung from Guilt's expiring eye,Are in that word--Farewell!--Farewell!
These lips are mute, these eyes are dry;But in my breast and in my brain,Awake the pangs that pass not by,The thought that ne'er shall sleep again.My soul nor deigns nor dares complain,Though Grief and Passion there rebel:I only know we loved in vain--I only feel--Farewell!--Farewell!
Words in this poem
- waft v. t.
- To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]
- expiring a.
- Breathing out air from the lungs; emitting fluid or volatile matter; exhaling; breathing the last breath; dying; ending; terminating.
- 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,]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Farewell! If Ever Fondest Prayer is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3, Project Gutenberg ebook #21811; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lord Byron, Farewell! If Ever Fondest Prayer, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/farewell-if-ever-fondest-prayer.html, id L23968.
Form and metre
Farewell! If Ever Fondest Prayer is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABBCBC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
See 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 ABABBCBC prayerA · highB · airA · skyB · sighB · tellC · eyeB · farewellC
- 2 ABABBCBC dryA · brainB · byA · againB · complainB · rebelC · vainB · farewellC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Farewell! if ever fondest prayer | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| For other's weal availed on high, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Mine will not all be lost in air, | 8 | ········ |
| But waft thy name beyond the sky. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twere vain to speak--to weep--to sigh: | 8 | ········ |
| Oh! more than tears of blood can tell, | 8 | ········ |
| When wrung from Guilt's expiring eye, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Are in that word--Farewell!--Farewell! | 8 | ·····/·/ |
| These lips are mute, these eyes are dry; | 8 | ········ |
| But in my breast and in my brain, | 8 | ········ |
| Awake the pangs that pass not by, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| The thought that ne'er shall sleep again. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| My soul nor deigns nor dares complain, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Though Grief and Passion there rebel: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| I only know we loved in vain-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I only feel--Farewell!--Farewell! | 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.