Farewell

John Clare 1793 (Helpston) – 1864 (St Andrew's Hospital)



Farewell to the bushy clump close to the river
And the flags where the butter-bump hides in forever;
Farewell to the weedy nook, hemmed in by waters;
Farewell to the miller's brook and his three bonny daughters;
Farewell to them all while in prison I lie--
In the prison a thrall sees naught but the sky.

Shut out are the green fields and birds in the bushes;
In the prison yard nothing builds, blackbirds or thrushes.
Farewell to the old mill and dash of waters,
To the miller and, dearer still, to his three bonny daughters.

In the nook, the larger burdock grows near the green willow;
In the flood, round the moor-cock dashes under the billow;
To the old mill farewell, to the lock, pens, and waters,
To the miller himsel', and his three bonny daughters.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

42 sec read
127

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCC DDBB EEBB
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 752
Words 139
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 4, 4

John Clare

John Clare was an English poet in his time he was commonly known as the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet more…

All John Clare poems | John Clare Books

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