A Farewell
Once more, enchanting girl, adieu!I must be gone while yet I may,Oft shall I weep to think of you;But here I will not, cannot stay.
The sweet expression of that face.For ever changing, yet the same,Ah no, I dare not turn to trace.It melts my soul, it fires my frame!
Yet give me, give me, ere I go,One little lock of those so blest,That lend your cheek a warmer glow,And on your white neck love to rest.
—Say, when to kindle soft delight,That hand has chanc’d with mine to meet,How could its thrilling touch exciteA sigh so short, and yet so sweet?
O say—but no, it must not be.Adieu! A long, a long adieu!—Yet still, methinks, you frown on me;Or never could I fly from you.
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,]
- thrilling a.
- Causing a thrill; causing tremulous excitement; deeply moving; as, a thrilling romance.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Farewell is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #13586; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Rogers, A Farewell, in Poems (1792–1834), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13586, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rogers-poems/a-farewell.html, id L09749.
Form and metre
A Farewell is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 5% 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 ABAB adieuA · mayB · youA · stayB
- 2 ABAB faceA · sameB · traceA · frameB
- 3 ABAB goA · blestB · glowA · restB
- 4 ABAB delightA · meetB · exciteA · sweetB
- 5 ABAB beA · adieuB · meA · youB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Once more, enchanting girl, adieu! | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| I must be gone while yet I may, | 8 | ········ |
| Oft shall I weep to think of you; | 8 | ········ |
| But here I will not, cannot stay. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The sweet expression of that face. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| For ever changing, yet the same, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Ah no, I dare not turn to trace. | 8 | ········ |
| It melts my soul, it fires my frame! | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Yet give me, give me, ere I go, | 8 | ········ |
| One little lock of those so blest, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That lend your cheek a warmer glow, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And on your white neck love to rest. | 8 | ········ |
| —Say, when to kindle soft delight, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That hand has chanc’d with mine to meet, | 8 | ········ |
| How could its thrilling touch excite | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| A sigh so short, and yet so sweet? | 8 | ········ |
| O say—but no, it must not be. | 8 | ········ |
| Adieu! A long, a long adieu! | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| —Yet still, methinks, you frown on me; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Or never could I fly from you. | 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.