Ballad VIII: The Farewell to Love
Adieu, fond love, farewell you wanton powers;I am free again.Thou dull disease of bloud and idle hours,Bewitching pain,Fly to fools, that sigh away their time:My nobler love to heaven doth climb,And there behold beauty still young,That time can ne'er corrupt, nor death destroy,Immortal sweetness by fair angels sung,And honoured by eternity and joy:There lies my love, thither my hopes aspire,Fond love declines, this heavenly love grows higher.
Come, worthy Greeke, Ulysses come,Possesse these shores with me,The windes and seas are troublesome,And here we may be free.Here may we sit and view their toyle,That travaile in the deepe,Enjoy the day in mirth the while,And spend the night in sleepe.
Faire nymph, if fame or honour wereTo be attain'd with ease,Then would I come and rest with thee.And leave such toiles as these:But here it dwels, and here must IWith danger seek it forth;To spend the time luxuriouslyBecomes not men of worth.
Ulysses, O be not deceiv'dWith that unreall name:This honour is a thing conceiv'd,And rests on others' fame.Begotten only to molestOur peace, and to beguile(The best thing of our life) our rest,And give us up to toyle!
Delicious nymph, suppose there wereNor honor, nor report,Yet manlinesse would scorne to weareThe time in idle sport:For toyle doth give a better touchTo make us feele our joy;And ease findes tediousnes, as muchAs labour yeelds annoy.
Then pleasure likewise seemes the shore,Whereto tendes all your toyle;Which you forego to make it more,And perish oft the while.Who may disport them diversly,Find never tedious day;And ease may have variety,As well as action may.
But natures of the noblest frameThese toyles and dangers please;And they take comfort in the same,As much as you in ease:And with the thought of actions pastAre recreated still:When pleasure leaves a touch at lastTo shew that it was ill.
That doth opinion only cause,That's out of custom bred;Which makes us many other laws,Than ever nature did.No widdowes waile for our delights,Our sports are without blood;The world we see by warlike wightsReceives more hurt than good.
But yet the state of things requireThese motions of unrest,And these great spirits of high desireSeem borne to turne them best:To purge the mischiefes, that increaseAnd all good order mar:For oft we see a wicked peace,To be well chang'd for war.
Well, well, Ulysses, then I seeI shall not have thee here;And therefore I will come to thee,And take my fortune there.I must be wonne that cannot win,Yet lost were I not wonne:For beauty hath created binT' undoo or be undone.
Words in this poem
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- unreall a.
- Not real; unsubstantial; fanciful; ideal.
- molest v. t.
- To trouble; to disturb; to render uneasy; to interfere with; to vex. [F. molester, L. molestare, fr. molestus troublesome, fr. moles a heavy mass, load, burden. See 3d Mole.]
- whereto adv.
- To which; -- used relatively.
- forego v. t.
- To quit; to relinquish; to leave. [See Forgo.]
- disport n.
- Play; sport; pastime; diversion; playfulness. [OF. desport, deport. See Disport, v. i., and cf. Sport.]
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
- unrest n.
- Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude.
- 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,]
- wonne v. i.
- To dwell or abide. [See 1st Wone.]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballad VIII: The Farewell to Love is in the public domain. This text is taken from Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Volume 1 (of 3) Consisting of Old Heroic Ballads, Songs and Other Pieces of Our Earlier Poets Together With Some Few of Later Date, Project Gutenberg ebook #45939; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Percy, Ballad VIII: The Farewell to Love, in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Volume I (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #45939, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/percy-reliques/ballad-viii-the-farewell-to-love.html, id L08555.
Form and metre
Ballad VIII: The Farewell to Love is 84 lines in 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% 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 ABABCCDEDE-- powersA · againB · hoursA · painB · timeC · climbC · youngD · destroyE · sungD · joyE · aspire · higher
- 2 ABAB-C-C comeA · meB · troublesomeA · freeB · toyle · deepeC · while · sleepeC
- 3 -ABAB--- were · easeA · theeB · theseA · iB · forth · luxuriously · worth
- 4 ABABC-C- deceiv'dA · nameB · conceiv'dA · fameB · molestC · beguile · restC · toyle
- 5 -A-ABCBC were · reportA · weare · sportA · touchB · joyC · muchB · annoyC
- 6 A-A--B-B shoreA · toyle · moreA · while · diversly · dayB · variety · mayB
- 7 ABABCDCD frameA · pleaseB · sameA · easeB · pastC · stillD · lastC · illD
- 8 A-AB-B-B causeA · bred · lawsA · didB · delights · bloodB · wights · goodB
- 9 ABABC-C- requireA · unrestB · desireA · bestB · increaseC · mar · peaceC · war
- 10 ABABCDCD seeA · hereB · theeA · thereB · winC · wonneD · binC · undoneD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Adieu, fond love, farewell you wanton powers; | 10 | ˘/···/·/˘/ |
| I am free again. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Thou dull disease of bloud and idle hours, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘/ |
| Bewitching pain, | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| Fly to fools, that sigh away their time: | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| My nobler love to heaven doth climb, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| And there behold beauty still young, | 8 | ··˘//˘·· |
| That time can ne'er corrupt, nor death destroy, | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| Immortal sweetness by fair angels sung, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And honoured by eternity and joy: | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘·· |
| There lies my love, thither my hopes aspire, | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| Fond love declines, this heavenly love grows higher. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··/ |
| Come, worthy Greeke, Ulysses come, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Possesse these shores with me, | 6 | /˘···· |
| The windes and seas are troublesome, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And here we may be free. | 6 | ······ |
| Here may we sit and view their toyle, | 9 | ········· |
| That travaile in the deepe, | 7 | ······· |
| Enjoy the day in mirth the while, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And spend the night in sleepe. | 6 | ······ |
| Faire nymph, if fame or honour were | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To be attain'd with ease, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Then would I come and rest with thee. | 8 | ········ |
| And leave such toiles as these: | 6 | ······ |
| But here it dwels, and here must I | 8 | ········ |
| With danger seek it forth; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To spend the time luxuriously | 8 | ········ |
| Becomes not men of worth. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Ulysses, O be not deceiv'd | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| With that unreall name: | 5 | ··˘/· |
| This honour is a thing conceiv'd, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And rests on others' fame. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Begotten only to molest | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Our peace, and to beguile | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| (The best thing of our life) our rest, | 8 | ····/·/· |
| And give us up to toyle! | 7 | ······· |
| Delicious nymph, suppose there were | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Nor honor, nor report, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Yet manlinesse would scorne to weare | 8 | ········ |
| The time in idle sport: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For toyle doth give a better touch | 9 | ······/˘· |
| To make us feele our joy; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And ease findes tediousnes, as much | 7 | ······· |
| As labour yeelds annoy. | 6 | ·/··˘/ |
| Then pleasure likewise seemes the shore, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Whereto tendes all your toyle; | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Which you forego to make it more, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And perish oft the while. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Who may disport them diversly, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Find never tedious day; | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘· |
| And ease may have variety, | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| As well as action may. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But natures of the noblest frame | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| These toyles and dangers please; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And they take comfort in the same, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As much as you in ease: | 6 | ······ |
| And with the thought of actions past | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Are recreated still: | 6 | ·/˘·˘· |
| When pleasure leaves a touch at last | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To shew that it was ill. | 6 | ······ |
| That doth opinion only cause, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| That's out of custom bred; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Which makes us many other laws, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Than ever nature did. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| No widdowes waile for our delights, | 9 | ······/˘/ |
| Our sports are without blood; | 7 | /˘····· |
| The world we see by warlike wights | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Receives more hurt than good. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| But yet the state of things require | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| These motions of unrest, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And these great spirits of high desire | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| Seem borne to turne them best: | 6 | ······ |
| To purge the mischiefes, that increase | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And all good order mar: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For oft we see a wicked peace, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To be well chang'd for war. | 6 | ······ |
| Well, well, Ulysses, then I see | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| I shall not have thee here; | 6 | ······ |
| And therefore I will come to thee, | 8 | ········ |
| And take my fortune there. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I must be wonne that cannot win, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yet lost were I not wonne: | 6 | ······ |
| For beauty hath created bin | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| T' undoo or be undone. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
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