The Bride’s Farewell
Why do I weep? To leave the vineWhose clusters o’er me bend;The myrtle--yet, oh call it mine!--The flowers I loved to tend.A thousand thoughts of all things dearLike shadows o’er me sweep;I leave my sunny childhood here,Oh! therefore let me weep!
I leave thee, sister! We have play’dThrough many a joyous hour,Where the silvery green of the olive shadeHung dim o’er fount and bower.Yes! thou and I, by stream, by shore,In song, in prayer, in sleep,Have been as we may be no more--Kind sister, let me weep!
I leave thee, father! Eve’s bright moonMust now light other feet,With the gather’d grapes, and the lyre in tune,Thy homeward step to greet.Thou in whose voice, to bless thy child,Lay tones of love so deep,Whose eye o’er all my youth hath smiled--I leave thee! let me weep!
Mother! I leave thee! On thy breastPouring out joy and woe,I have found that holy place of restStill changeless--yet I go!Lips, that have lull’d me with your strain!Eyes, that have watch’d my sleep!Will earth give love like yours again?--Sweet mother! let me weep!
And like a slight young tree, that throwsThe weight of rain from its drooping boughs,Once more she wept. But a changeful thingIs the human heart--as a mountain springThat works its way, through the torrent’s foam,To the bright pool near it, the lily’s home!It is well!--The cloud on her soul that lay,Hath melted in glittering drops away.Wake again, mingle, sweet flute and lyre!She turns to her lover, she leaves her sire.Mother! on earth it must still be so:Thou rearest the lovely to see them go!
They are moving onward, the bridal throng,Ye may track their way by the swells of song;Ye may catch through the foliage their white robes’ gleam,Like a swan midst the reeds of a shadowy stream;Their arms bear up garlands, their gliding treadIs over the deep-vein’d violet’s bed;They have light leaves around them, blue skies above,An arch for the triumph of youth and love!
Words in this poem
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- 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.]
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- changeless a.
- That can not be changed; constant; as, a changeless purpose.
- lull v. t.
- To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. [Akin to OD. lullen to sing to sleep, G. lullen, Dan. lulle, Sw. lulla; all of imitative origin. Cf. Loll, Lollard.]
- changeful a.
- Full of change; mutable; inconstant; fickle; uncertain.
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Bride’s Farewell 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, The Bride’s Farewell, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-bride-s-farewell.html, id L19406.
Form and metre
The Bride’s Farewell is 52 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCDCD vineA · bendB · mineA · tendB · dearC · sweepD · hereC · weepD
- 2 ABABCDCD play'dA · hourB · shadeA · bowerB · shoreC · sleepD · moreC · weepD
- 3 ABABCDCD moonA · feetB · tuneA · greetB · childC · deepD · smiledC · weepD
- 4 ABABCDCD breastA · woeB · restA · goB · strainC · sleepD · againC · weepD
- 5 --AABBCC--DD throws · boughs · thingA · springA · foamB · homeB · layC · awayC · lyre · sire · soD · goD
- 6 AABBCCDD throngA · songA · gleamB · streamB · treadC · bedC · aboveD · loveD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Why do I weep? To leave the vine | 8 | ········ |
| Whose clusters o’er me bend; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The myrtle--yet, oh call it mine!-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The flowers I loved to tend. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| A thousand thoughts of all things dear | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like shadows o’er me sweep; | 6 | ·/···· |
| I leave my sunny childhood here, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Oh! therefore let me weep! | 6 | ······ |
| I leave thee, sister! We have play’d | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Through many a joyous hour, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Where the silvery green of the olive shade | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| Hung dim o’er fount and bower. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Yes! thou and I, by stream, by shore, | 8 | ········ |
| In song, in prayer, in sleep, | 6 | ······ |
| Have been as we may be no more-- | 8 | ········ |
| Kind sister, let me weep! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I leave thee, father! Eve’s bright moon | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Must now light other feet, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With the gather’d grapes, and the lyre in tune, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Thy homeward step to greet. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Thou in whose voice, to bless thy child, | 8 | ········ |
| Lay tones of love so deep, | 6 | ······ |
| Whose eye o’er all my youth hath smiled-- | 8 | ········ |
| I leave thee! let me weep! | 6 | ······ |
| Mother! I leave thee! On thy breast | 8 | /˘······ |
| Pouring out joy and woe, | 6 | /˘···· |
| I have found that holy place of rest | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Still changeless--yet I go! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Lips, that have lull’d me with your strain! | 8 | ········ |
| Eyes, that have watch’d my sleep! | 6 | ······ |
| Will earth give love like yours again?-- | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Sweet mother! let me weep! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And like a slight young tree, that throws | 8 | ········ |
| The weight of rain from its drooping boughs, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Once more she wept. But a changeful thing | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Is the human heart--as a mountain spring | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| That works its way, through the torrent’s foam, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| To the bright pool near it, the lily’s home! | 10 | ·······/·· |
| It is well!--The cloud on her soul that lay, | 10 | ·········· |
| Hath melted in glittering drops away. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘·˘/ |
| Wake again, mingle, sweet flute and lyre! | 9 | ·˘//˘···· |
| She turns to her lover, she leaves her sire. | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| Mother! on earth it must still be so: | 9 | /˘······· |
| Thou rearest the lovely to see them go! | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| They are moving onward, the bridal throng, | 10 | ··/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Ye may track their way by the swells of song; | 10 | ·········· |
| Ye may catch through the foliage their white robes’ gleam, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Like a swan midst the reeds of a shadowy stream; | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Their arms bear up garlands, their gliding tread | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Is over the deep-vein’d violet’s bed; | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| They have light leaves around them, blue skies above, | 11 | ··········· |
| An arch for the triumph of youth and love! | 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.