Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO A FRIEND AT PARTING, by WILLIAM MOTHERWELL Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Farewell, my friend! - perchance again Last Line: For me behind! Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, Isaac Subject(s): Farewell; Friendship; Parting | ||||||||
FAREWELL, my friend! -- Perchance again I'll clasp thee to a faithful heart -- Farewell my friend! -- We part in pain, Yet we must part! Were this memento to declare All that the inward moods portray, Dark boding grief were pictured there, And wild dismay! For thee, my fancy paints a scene Of peace on life's remoter shore -- Thy wishes long fulfilled have been, Or even more: And when success hath crowned thy toil, And hope hath raised thy heart to Heaven -- Thou well mayst love the generous soil Where love was given. For me, my friend, I fear there's nought, In dim futurity, of gladness; That ever rises on my thought A dream of sadness: Yet gazing upon guileless faces, Sunned by the light of laughing eyes, I recreant were to own no traces Of social ties. Even I may borrow from another The smile I fain would call my own, Striving, with childish art, to smother The care unknown. Farewell! Farewell! -- All good attend thee -- At home, abroad -- on land, or sea -- That Heaven may evermore befriend thee, My prayer shall be! Should a dark thought of him arise Whose parting hand thou must resign, Let it go forth to stormy skies, Not tarnish thine: Never may Melancholy's brood Disturb the fountain of thy joy, Nor dusky Passion's fitful mood Thy peace alloy! "Up, anchor! up!" -- The mariner Thus hymns to the inconstant wind -- Heave not one sigh, where'er you steer, For me behind! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN STUDY #2 FOR B.B.L. by JUNE JORDAN WATCHING THE NEEDLEBOATS AT SAN SABBA by JAMES JOYCE SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES JEANIE MORRISON by WILLIAM MOTHERWELL |
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