A Farewel to America. To Mrs. S. W
ADIEU, New-England's smiling meads,Adieu, the flow'ry plain:I leave thine op'ning charms, O spring,And tempt the roaring main.
In vain for me the flow'rets rise,And boast their gaudy pride,While here beneath the northern skiesI mourn for health deny'd.
Celestial maid of rosy hue,O let me feel thy reign!I languish till thy face I view,Thy vanish'd joys regain.
Susanna mourns, nor can I bearTo see the crystal show'r,Or mark the tender falling tearAt sad departure's hour;
Not unregarding can I seeHer soul with grief opprest:But let no sighs, no groans for me,Steal from her pensive breast.
In vain the feather'd warblers sing,In vain the garden blooms,And on the bosom of the springBreathes out her sweet perfumes.
While for Britannia's distant shoreWe sweep the liquid plain,And with astonish'd eyes exploreThe wide-extended main.
Lo! Health appears! celestial dame!Complacent and serene,With Hebe's mantle o'er her Frame,With soul-delighting mein.
To mark the vale where London liesWith misty vapours crown'd,Which cloud Aurora's thousand dyes,And veil her charms around.
Why, Phoebus, moves thy car so slow?So slow thy rising ray?Give us the famous town to view,Thou glorious king of day!
For thee, Britannia, I resignNew-England's smiling fields;To view again her charms divine,What joy the prospect yields!
But thou! Temptation hence away,With all thy fatal train,Nor once seduce my soul away,By thine enchanting strain.
Thrice happy they, whose heav'nly shieldSecures their souls from harms,And fell Temptation on the fieldOf all its pow'r disarms!
Words in this poem
- languish v. i.
- To cause to dr Shak.
- explore v. t.
- To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- britannia n.
- A white-metal alloy of tin, antimony, bismuth, copper, etc. It somewhat resembles silver, and isused for table ware. Called also Britannia metal. [From L. Britannia Great Britain.]
- seduce v. t.
- To draw aside from the path of rectitude and duty in any manner; to entice to evil; to lead astray; to tempt and lead to iniquity; to corrupt. [L. seducere, seductum; pref. se- aside + ducere to lead. See Duke.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Farewel to America. To Mrs. S. W is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems on various subjects, religious and moral, Project Gutenberg ebook #409; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Phillis Wheatley, A Farewel to America. To Mrs. S. W, in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #409, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wheatley-poems/a-farewel-to-america-to-mrs-s-w.html, id L07718.
Form and metre
A Farewel to America. To Mrs. S. W is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 11 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 -A-A meads · plainA · spring · mainA
- 2 ABAB riseA · prideB · skiesA · deny'dB
- 3 ABAB hueA · reignB · viewA · regainB
- 4 ABAB bearA · show'rB · tearA · hourB
- 5 ABAB seeA · opprestB · meA · breastB
- 6 ABAB singA · bloomsB · springA · perfumesB
- 7 ABAB shoreA · plainB · exploreA · mainB
- 8 ABAB dameA · sereneB · frameA · meinB
- 9 ABAB liesA · crown'dB · dyesA · aroundB
- 10 -A-A slow · rayA · view · dayA
- 11 ABAB resignA · fieldsB · divineA · yieldsB
- 12 ABAB awayA · trainB · awayA · strainB
- 13 ABAB shieldA · harmsB · fieldA · disarmsB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| ADIEU, New-England's smiling meads, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Adieu, the flow'ry plain: | 6 | ˘/···· |
| I leave thine op'ning charms, O spring, | 8 | ········ |
| And tempt the roaring main. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In vain for me the flow'rets rise, | 8 | ········ |
| And boast their gaudy pride, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| While here beneath the northern skies | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I mourn for health deny'd. | 6 | ······ |
| Celestial maid of rosy hue, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| O let me feel thy reign! | 6 | ······ |
| I languish till thy face I view, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thy vanish'd joys regain. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Susanna mourns, nor can I bear | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| To see the crystal show'r, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Or mark the tender falling tear | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| At sad departure's hour; | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Not unregarding can I see | 8 | ········ |
| Her soul with grief opprest: | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| But let no sighs, no groans for me, | 8 | ········ |
| Steal from her pensive breast. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In vain the feather'd warblers sing, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In vain the garden blooms, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And on the bosom of the spring | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Breathes out her sweet perfumes. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| While for Britannia's distant shore | 9 | ··˘/˘˘/˘· |
| We sweep the liquid plain, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And with astonish'd eyes explore | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| The wide-extended main. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Lo! Health appears! celestial dame! | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Complacent and serene, | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| With Hebe's mantle o'er her Frame, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| With soul-delighting mein. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| To mark the vale where London lies | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With misty vapours crown'd, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Which cloud Aurora's thousand dyes, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| And veil her charms around. | 6 | ······ |
| Why, Phoebus, moves thy car so slow? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So slow thy rising ray? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Give us the famous town to view, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thou glorious king of day! | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| For thee, Britannia, I resign | 9 | ··˘/˘˘·˘/ |
| New-England's smiling fields; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| To view again her charms divine, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| What joy the prospect yields! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But thou! Temptation hence away, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| With all thy fatal train, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Nor once seduce my soul away, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| By thine enchanting strain. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Thrice happy they, whose heav'nly shield | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Secures their souls from harms, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| And fell Temptation on the field | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Of all its pow'r disarms! | 6 | ····˘/ |
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.