Parted
Farewell to one now silenced quite,Sent out of hearing, out of sight,--My friend of friends, whom I shall miss.He is not banished, though, for this,--Nor he, nor sadness, nor delight.
Though I shall walk with him no more,A low voice sounds upon the shore.He must not watch my resting-placeBut who shall drive a mournful faceFrom the sad winds about my door?
I shall not hear his voice complain,But who shall stop the patient rain?His tears must not disturb my heart,But who shall change the years, and partThe world from every thought of pain?
Although my life is left so dim,The morning crowns the mountain-rim;Joy is not gone from summer skies,Nor innocence from children's eyes,And all these things are part of him.
He is not banished, for the showersYet wake this green warm earth of ours.How can the summer but be sweet?I shall not have him at my feet,And yet my feet are on the flowers.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Parted is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1186; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alice Meynell, Parted, in Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1186, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/meynell-poems/parted.html, id L12863.
Form and metre
Parted is 25 lines in 5 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBA, the Limerick. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other limericks, 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 AABBA quiteA · sightA · missB · thisB · delightA
- 2 AABBA moreA · shoreA · placeB · faceB · doorA
- 3 AABBA complainA · rainA · heartB · partB · painA
- 4 AABBA dimA · rimA · skiesB · eyesB · himA
- 5 AABBA showersA · oursA · sweetB · feetB · flowersA
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 to one now silenced quite, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Sent out of hearing, out of sight,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My friend of friends, whom I shall miss. | 8 | ········ |
| He is not banished, though, for this,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor he, nor sadness, nor delight. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Though I shall walk with him no more, | 8 | ········ |
| A low voice sounds upon the shore. | 8 | ········ |
| He must not watch my resting-place | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But who shall drive a mournful face | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From the sad winds about my door? | 8 | ········ |
| I shall not hear his voice complain, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But who shall stop the patient rain? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His tears must not disturb my heart, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But who shall change the years, and part | 8 | ········ |
| The world from every thought of pain? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Although my life is left so dim, | 8 | ········ |
| The morning crowns the mountain-rim; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Joy is not gone from summer skies, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor innocence from children's eyes, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| And all these things are part of him. | 8 | ········ |
| He is not banished, for the showers | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Yet wake this green warm earth of ours. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| How can the summer but be sweet? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I shall not have him at my feet, | 8 | ········ |
| And yet my feet are on the flowers. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
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.