Alfred Lord Tennyson’s short lyrical poem “A Farewell” is a contemplative and introspective piece, written in the voice of someone who is approaching death or departure from the material world. With graceful brevity and a tone of quiet dignity, the poem explores the speaker’s acceptance of mortality, separation from the earthly life, and a hopeful surrender to nature and the divine.
A Farewell by Alfred Lord Tennyson
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:
Nowhere 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 will stream on thee,
A thousand moons will quiver;
But not by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.
Theme and Tone
At its core, “A Farewell” expresses serene resignation. Tennyson doesn’t fight against death; rather, he embraces it with composure. The tone is neither mournful nor fearful, but instead tranquil, reflective, and even hopeful. The poem suggests a sense of harmony with nature and a belief in something beyond the physical world.
Notable Lines and Meaning
One of the most quoted lines:
“A land of stream and shadows”
This line evokes a sense of mystery and transition — a landscape that represents the afterlife or the unknown. Tennyson’s choice of imagery blends natural beauty with metaphysical symbolism, implying that death is not an end, but a passage.
Another significant line:
“Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!”
Here, Tennyson uses the metaphor of twilight to represent old age or the end of life, and the “evening bell” as a symbol of finality. Yet, “the dark” that follows is not portrayed with fear, but with calm acceptance.
Style and Structure
The poem is brief and lyrical, yet rich with emotional depth. It follows a regular rhyme scheme and uses natural imagery — seas, bells, light and darkness — to underline the cycles of life and death. Tennyson’s mastery of sound and rhythm gives the poem an elegiac, musical quality.
