Farewell to Barn and Stack and Tree



"Farewell to barn and stack and tree,
Farewell to Severn shore.
Terence, look your last at me,
For I come home no more.

"The sun burns on the half-mown hill,
By now the blood is dried;
And Maurice amongst the hay lies still
And my knife is in his side.

"My mother thinks us long away;
'Tis time the field were mown.
She had two sons at rising day,
To-night she'll be alone.

"And here's a bloody hand to shake,
And oh, man, here's good-bye;
We'll sweat no more on scythe and rake,
My bloody hands and I.

"I wish you strength to bring you pride,
And a love to keep you clean,
And I wish you luck, come Lammastide,
At racing on the green.

"Long for me the rick will wait,
And long will wait the fold,
And long will stand the empty plate,
And dinner will be cold."

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 11, 2023

46 sec read
282

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH DFDF IJIJ
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 768
Words 153
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Alfred Edward Housman

Alfred Edward Housman, usually known as A. E. Housman, was an English classical scholar and poet, best known to the general public for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad.  more…

All Alfred Edward Housman poems | Alfred Edward Housman Books

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  • Chanuka Ganegamage
    Chanuka Ganegamage
    Helpful one
    LikeReply 18 years ago

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"Farewell to Barn and Stack and Tree" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/877/farewell-to-barn-and-stack-and-tree>.

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