Come Away
Come away!--the child, where flowers are springingRound its footsteps on the mountain-slope,Hears a glad voice from the upland singing,Like the skylark’s with its tone of hope:Come away!
Bounding on, with sunny lands before him,All the wealth of glowing life outspread,Ere the shadow of a cloud comes o’er him,By that strain the youth in joy is led:Come away!
Slowly, sadly, heavy change is fallingO’er the sweetness of the voice within;Yet its tones, on restless manhood calling,Urge the hunter still to chase, to win:Come away!
Come away!--the heart at last forsaken,Smile by smile, hath proved each hope untrue;Yet a breath can still those words awaken,Though to other shores far hence they woo:Come away!
In the light leaves, in the reed’s faint sighing,In the low, sweet sounds of early spring,Still their music wanders--till the dyingHears them pass, as on a spirit’s wing:Come away!
Words in this poem
- skylark n.
- A lark that mounts and sings as it files, especially the common species (Alauda arvensis) found in Europe and in some parts of Asia, and celebrated for its melodious song; -- called also sky laverock.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- outspread v. t.
- To spread out; to expand; -- usually as a past part. or adj.
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Come Away is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, Come Away, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/come-away.html, id L19684.
Form and metre
Come Away is 25 lines in 5 stanzas of 5 lines each. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABAB- springingA · slopeB · singingA · hopeB · away
- 2 ABAB- himA · outspreadB · himA · ledB · away
- 3 -A-A- falling · withinA · calling · winA · away
- 4 ABAB- forsakenA · untrueB · awakenA · wooB · away
- 5 ABAB- sighingA · springB · dyingA · wingB · away
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 trochaic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Come away!--the child, where flowers are springing | 11 | ·˘/···/˘·/˘ |
| Round its footsteps on the mountain-slope, | 9 | ··/···/˘· |
| Hears a glad voice from the upland singing, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| Like the skylark’s with its tone of hope: | 9 | ··/······ |
| Come away! | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Bounding on, with sunny lands before him, | 10 | /˘··/˘···· |
| All the wealth of glowing life outspread, | 9 | ····/˘·˘/ |
| Ere the shadow of a cloud comes o’er him, | 10 | ··/······· |
| By that strain the youth in joy is led: | 9 | ········· |
| Come away! | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Slowly, sadly, heavy change is falling | 10 | /˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| O’er the sweetness of the voice within; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Yet its tones, on restless manhood calling, | 10 | ····/˘/·/˘ |
| Urge the hunter still to chase, to win: | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Come away! | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Come away!--the heart at last forsaken, | 10 | ·˘/····˘/˘ |
| Smile by smile, hath proved each hope untrue; | 10 | ·····˘··˘/ |
| Yet a breath can still those words awaken, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Though to other shores far hence they woo: | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Come away! | 3 | ·˘/ |
| In the light leaves, in the reed’s faint sighing, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| In the low, sweet sounds of early spring, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Still their music wanders--till the dying | 10 | ··/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Hears them pass, as on a spirit’s wing: | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Come away! | 3 | ·˘/ |
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.