The Farewell
Since Fate commands me hence, and IMust leave my soul with thee, and die,Dear, spare one sigh, or else let fallA tear to crown my funeral,That I may tell my grieved heartThou art unwilling we should part;And martyrs that embrace the fireShall with less joy than I expire.
With this last kiss I will bequeathMy soul, transfus'd into thy breath,Whose active heat shall gently slideInto thy breast, and there reside,And may, (in spite of Fate thus blest,)Be, in this death, of heaven possess'd.Then prove but kind; and thou shalt seeLove hath more power than Destiny.
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,]
- bequeath v. t.
- To give or leave by will; to give by testament; -- said especially of personal property. [OE. biquethen, AS. becwe to say, affirm, bequeath; pref. be- + cwe to say, speak. See Quoth.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Farewell is in the public domain. This text is taken from Thomas Stanley: His Original Lyrics, Complete, In Their Collated Readings of 1647, 1651, 1657. With an Introduction, Textual Notes, a List of Editions, an Appendix of Translations, and a Portrait., Project Gutenberg ebook #32986; 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 Stanley, The Farewell, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/the-farewell.html, id L08980.
Form and metre
The Farewell is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 95% 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. 44% 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 AABBCCDD iA · dieA · fallB · funeralB · heartC · partC · fireD · expireD
- 2 --AABB-- bequeath · breath · slideA · resideA · blestB · possess'dB · see · destiny
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Since Fate commands me hence, and I | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Must leave my soul with thee, and die, | 8 | ········ |
| Dear, spare one sigh, or else let fall | 8 | ········ |
| A tear to crown my funeral, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| That I may tell my grieved heart | 8 | ······˘· |
| Thou art unwilling we should part; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And martyrs that embrace the fire | 9 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Shall with less joy than I expire. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With this last kiss I will bequeath | 8 | ······˘/ |
| My soul, transfus'd into thy breath, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Whose active heat shall gently slide | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Into thy breast, and there reside, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And may, (in spite of Fate thus blest,) | 8 | ········ |
| Be, in this death, of heaven possess'd. | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| Then prove but kind; and thou shalt see | 8 | ········ |
| Love hath more power than Destiny. | 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.