The Farewell
He rides away with sword and spur,Garbed in his warlike blazonry,With gallant glance and smile for herUpon the dim-lit balcony.Her kiss upon his lips is warm,Upon his breast he wears her rose,From her fond arms to stress and stormOf many a bannered field he goes.
He dreams of danger, glory, strife,His voice is blithe, his hand is strong,He rides perchance to death from lifeAnd leaves his lady with a song;But her blue-brimmed eyes are dimWith her deep anguish standing there,Sending across the world with himThe dear, white guerdon of her prayer.
For her the lonely vigil waitsWhen ashen dawnlights come and go,Each bringing through the future's gatesIts presages of fear and woe;For her the watch with soul and heartGrown sick with dread, as women may,Yet keeping still her pain apartFrom the wan duties of the day.
'Tis hers to walk when sunsets yieldTheir painted splendors to the skies,And dream on some far battlefieldPerchance alone, unwatched, he dies;'Tis hers to kneel in patient prayerWhen midnight stars keep sentinel,Lest the chill death-dews damp the hairUpon the brow she loves so well.
So stands she, white and sad and sweet,Upon the latticed balcony,From golden hair to slender feetNo lady is so fair as she;He loves her true, he holds her dear,But he must ride on dangerous quest,With gallant glance and smile of cheer,And her red rose upon his breast.
Words in this poem
- garbed a.
- Dressed; habited; clad.
- bannered a.
- Decorated with a banner or banners
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
- vigil n.
- Abstinence from sleep, whether at a time when sleep is customary or not; the act of keeping awake, or the state of being awake, or the state of being awake; sleeplessness; wakefulness; watch. [OE. vigile, L. vigilia, from vigil awake, watchful, probably akin to E. wake: cf. F. vigile. See Wake, v. i., and cf. Reveille, Surveillance, Vedette, Vegetable]
- ashen a.
- Of or pertaining to the ash tree. [See Ash, the tree.]
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Farewell is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Watchman and Other Poems (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917; Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart, 1916), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: L. M. Montgomery, The Farewell, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/the-farewell.html, id L29448.
Form and metre
The Farewell is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABABCDCD spurA · blazonryB · herA · balconyB · warmC · roseD · stormC · goesD
- 2 ABABCDCD strifeA · strongB · lifeA · songB · dimC · thereD · himC · prayerD
- 3 ABABCDCD waitsA · goB · gatesA · woeB · heartC · mayD · apartC · dayD
- 4 ABABCDCD yieldA · skiesB · battlefieldA · diesB · prayerC · sentinelD · hairC · wellD
- 5 ABABCDCD sweetA · balconyB · feetA · sheB · dearC · questD · cheerC · breastD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| He rides away with sword and spur, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Garbed in his warlike blazonry, | 8 | ···/·/˘˘ |
| With gallant glance and smile for her | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Upon the dim-lit balcony. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Her kiss upon his lips is warm, | 8 | ········ |
| Upon his breast he wears her rose, | 8 | ········ |
| From her fond arms to stress and storm | 8 | ········ |
| Of many a bannered field he goes. | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| He dreams of danger, glory, strife, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| His voice is blithe, his hand is strong, | 8 | ········ |
| He rides perchance to death from life | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And leaves his lady with a song; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But her blue-brimmed eyes are dim | 8 | ····˘··· |
| With her deep anguish standing there, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Sending across the world with him | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| The dear, white guerdon of her prayer. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For her the lonely vigil waits | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| When ashen dawnlights come and go, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Each bringing through the future's gates | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Its presages of fear and woe; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| For her the watch with soul and heart | 8 | ········ |
| Grown sick with dread, as women may, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yet keeping still her pain apart | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| From the wan duties of the day. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Tis hers to walk when sunsets yield | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Their painted splendors to the skies, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And dream on some far battlefield | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Perchance alone, unwatched, he dies; | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| 'Tis hers to kneel in patient prayer | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When midnight stars keep sentinel, | 8 | ·/···/˘˘ |
| Lest the chill death-dews damp the hair | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the brow she loves so well. | 8 | ········ |
| So stands she, white and sad and sweet, | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the latticed balcony, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| From golden hair to slender feet | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| No lady is so fair as she; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He loves her true, he holds her dear, | 8 | ········ |
| But he must ride on dangerous quest, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With gallant glance and smile of cheer, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And her red rose upon his breast. | 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.