Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A FAREWELL by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHAT SHALL I SAY, DEAR FRIENDS, TO WHOM I OWE
Last Line: "THE FITTEST PRAYER OF PARTING: ""GO WITH GOD!"
Subject(s): FAREWELL; PARTING;

WHAT shall I say, dear friends, to whom I owe
The choicest blessings, dropping from the hands
Of trustful love and friendship, as you go
Forth on your journey to those older lands,
By saint and sage and bard and hero trod?
Scarcely the simple farewell of the Friends
Sufficeth; after you my full heart sends
Such benediction as the pilgrim hears
Where the Greek faith its golden dome uprears,
From Crimea's roses to Archangel snows,
The fittest prayer of parting: "Go with God!"



Home: PoetryExplorer.net