Song of the Going Away
"Old man, upon the green hillside,With yellow flowers besprinkled o'er,How long in silence wilt thou bideAt this low stone door?
"I stoop: within 'tis dark and still;But shadowy paths methinks there be,And lead they far into the hill?""Traveller, come and see."
"'Tis dark, 'tis cold, and hung with gloom;I care not now within to stay;For thee and me is scarcely room,I will hence away."
"Not so, not so, thou youthful guest,Thy foot shall issue forth no more:Behold the chamber of thy rest,And the closing door!"
"O, have I 'scaped the whistling ball,And striven on smoky fields of fight,And scaled the 'leaguered city's wallIn the dangerous night;
"And borne my life unharméd stillThrough foaming gulfs of yeasty spray,To yield it on a grassy hillAt the noon of day?"
"Peace! Say thy prayers, and go to sleep,Till some time, ONE my seal shall break,And deep shall answer unto deep,When He crieth, 'AWAKE!'"
Words in this poem
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- 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,]
- scaled a.
- Covered with scales, or scalelike structures; -- said of a fish, a reptile, a moth, etc.
- yeasty a.
- Frothy; foamy; spumy, like yeast.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of the Going Away is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Jean Ingelow, In Two Volumes, Volume I., Project Gutenberg ebook #13223; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jean Ingelow, Song of the Going Away, in Poems, Volume I (1863), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13223, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/ingelow-poems/song-of-the-going-away.html, id L12834.
Form and metre
Song of the Going Away is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 A-A- hillsideA · o'er · bideA · door
- 2 ABAB stillA · beB · hillA · seeB
- 3 ABAB gloomA · stayB · roomA · awayB
- 4 ABAB guestA · moreB · restA · doorB
- 5 ABAB ballA · fightB · wallA · nightB
- 6 ABAB stillA · sprayB · hillA · dayB
- 7 ABAB sleepA · breakB · deepA · awakeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Old man, upon the green hillside, | 8 | ······/· |
| With yellow flowers besprinkled o'er, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··˘· |
| How long in silence wilt thou bide | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| At this low stone door? | 5 | ····· |
| "I stoop: within 'tis dark and still; | 8 | ········ |
| But shadowy paths methinks there be, | 9 | ·/˘˘·˘/·· |
| And lead they far into the hill?" | 8 | ········ |
| "Traveller, come and see." | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| "'Tis dark, 'tis cold, and hung with gloom; | 8 | ········ |
| I care not now within to stay; | 8 | ········ |
| For thee and me is scarcely room, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I will hence away." | 5 | ···˘/ |
| "Not so, not so, thou youthful guest, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy foot shall issue forth no more: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Behold the chamber of thy rest, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And the closing door!" | 5 | ··/˘· |
| "O, have I 'scaped the whistling ball, | 9 | ····˘·/˘· |
| And striven on smoky fields of fight, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| And scaled the 'leaguered city's wall | 10 | ··˘·/˘˘/˘· |
| In the dangerous night; | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| "And borne my life unharméd still | 7 | ······· |
| Through foaming gulfs of yeasty spray, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To yield it on a grassy hill | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| At the noon of day?" | 5 | ····· |
| "Peace! Say thy prayers, and go to sleep, | 8 | ········ |
| Till some time, ONE my seal shall break, | 8 | ········ |
| And deep shall answer unto deep, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When He crieth, 'AWAKE!'" | 5 | ···˘/ |
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.