Farewell Poems

Farewell is not an experience that everyone cherishes. But it is often said that "Time and tide waits for none". So, if you have someone close to your heart and you cannot spend the rest of your life with the person, separation is inevitable. You can express your love for your loved one with the help of farewell poems. Farewell poems grace different occasions. For instance, you may be separating from your loved one; one of your co-workers may be leaving the workplace to look for greener pastures. Whatever is the case, farewell poems are a powerful way to express your gratitude or convey your feelings for the other person.

Farewell poems differ depending on the circumstances
Farewell poems may vary depending on the occasion. It may be that you are taking leave of someone. As such you are bidding farewell to the people you are leaving behind.

For instance, few lines from this wonderful farewell poem written by Rabindranath Tagore depict the same.

"I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers!
I bow to you all and take my departure".

Farewell poems can be romantic too
Farewell poems are not just about giving farewell to your co-worker or your friend; it can be between two lovers. The following lines have been taken from a farewell poem written by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

"He rides away with sword and spur,
Garbed in his warlike blazonry,
With gallant glance and smile for her
Upon the dim-lit balcony.
Her kiss upon his lips is warm,
Upon his breast he wears her rose,
From her fond arms to stress and storm
Of many a bannered field he goes".

Farewell poems are intense and nostalgic
Irrespective of the circumstances, farewell poems are nostalgic and intense. Mechanical reading of farewell poems or any kind of poem is of no good unless you understand the depth of it.

You may also come across farewell poems in which an individual is leaving a place where he lived for many days. He is bidding farewell to the place. The lines written by Robert Burns in his poem Farewell imply the same.

"Farewell to the mountains, high-cover'd with snow,
Farewell to the straths and green vallies below,
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods".

Adorning farewell programs at workplaces with farewell poems has become a common practice too. These poems are used as a tool to express gratitude and praise skills of an employee who is leaving the organization.

Farewell by Rabindranath Tagore

I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers!
I bow to you all and take my departure.

Here I give back the keys of my door
---and I give up all claims to my house.
I only ask for last kind words from you.

We were neighbors for long,
but I received more than I could give.
Now the day has dawned
and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out.
A summons has come and I am ready for my journey.

Sonnet 87: Farewell! Thou art too dear for my possessing by William Shakespeare

Farewell! Thou art too dear for my possessing,
And like enough thou know'st thy estimate,
The charter of thy worth gives thee releasing;
My bonds in thee are all determinate.
For how do I hold thee but by thy granting,
And for that riches where is my deserving?
The cause of this fair gift in me is wanting,
And so my patent back again is swerving.
Thyself thou gav'st, thy own worth then not knowing,
Or me, to whom thou gav'st it, else mistaking;
So thy great gift upon misprision growing,
Comes home again, on better judgement making.
Thus have I had thee as a dream doth flatter,
In sleep a king, but waking no such matter.