A Farewell

First published in 1842. Not altered since 1843.

This poem was dedicated to the brook at Somersby described in the 'Ode to Memory' and referred to so often in 'In Memoriam'. Possibly it may have been written in 1837 when the Tennysons left Somersby. 'Cf. In Memoriam', sect. ci.

  Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea,
  Thy tribute wave deliver:
  No more by thee my steps shall be,
  For ever and for ever.
  Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea,
  A rivulet then a river:
  No where by thee my steps shall be,
  For ever and for ever.
  But here will sigh thine alder tree,
  And here thine aspen shiver;
  And here by thee will hum the bee,
  For ever and for ever.
  A thousand suns [1] will stream on thee,
  A thousand moons will quiver;
  But not by thee my steps shall be,
  For ever and for ever.

[Footnote 1: 1842. A hundred suns.]