Analysis of Farewell To The Children
IN the early summer morning
I stand and watch them come,
The Children to the School-house;
They chatter and laugh and hum.
The little boys with satchels
Slung round them, and the Girls
Each with hers swinging in her hand;
I love their sunny curls.
I love to see them playing,
Romping and shouting with glee,
The boys and girls together,
Simple, fearless, free.
I love to see them marching
In squads, in file, in line,
Advancing and retreating,
Tramping, keeping time.
Sometimes a little lad
With a bright brave face I'll see,
And a wistful yearning wonder
Comes stealing over me.
For once I too had a Darling;
I dreamed what he should do,
And surely he'd have had, I thought,
Just such a face as You.
And I, I dreamed to see him
Noble and brave and strong,
Loving the light, the lovely,
Hating the dark, the wrong,
Loving the poor, the People,
Ready to smile and give
Blood and brain to their service,
For them to die or live!
No matter, O little Darlings!
Little Boys, you shall be
My Citizens for faithful labour,
My Soldiers for victory!
Little Girls, I charge you
Be noble sweethearts, wives,
Mothers — comrades the sweetest,
Fountains of happy lives!
Farewell, O little Darlings!
Far away — with strangers, too —
He sleeps, the little Darling,
I dreamed to see like you.
And I, O little Darlings,
I have many miles to go,
And where I too may stop and sleep,
And when, I do not know.
But I charge you to remember
The love, the trust I had,
That you'd be noble, fearless, free,
And make your country glad.
That you should toil together,
Face whatever yet shall be,
My citizens for faithful labour,
My soldiers for victory.
I charge you to remember;
I bless you with my hand,
And I know the hour is coming
When you shall understand:
When you shall understand too,
Why, as I said farewell,
Although my lips were smiling,
The shining tears down fell.
Scheme | abcbcdedafgfahaijfgfaklkmnfnopqrsfTFkuvwskaksxyxgjfjgfTFgeaekzaz |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 00101010 110111 0101011 1100101 010111 111001 11010001 111101 1111110 1001011 0101010 10101 1111110 010101 0100010 10101 010101 1011111 00101010 110101 11111010 111111 01011111 110111 0111111 100101 1001010 100101 1001010 101101 1011110 111111 11011010 101111 11001101 1101100 101111 11011 101010 101101 111010 1011101 1101010 111111 0111010 1110111 01111101 011111 11111010 010111 11110101 011101 1111010 110111 11001101 1101100 1111010 111111 011010110 11101 111011 11111 111010 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,801 |
Words | 342 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 64 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,429 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 340 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 47 Views
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"Farewell To The Children" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14012/farewell-to-the-children>.
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