For He Was a Jolly Good Fellow
THEY CHEERED him from the wharf—it was a glorious day:
His hand went to his scarf—his thoughts were far away.
Oh, he was “Jolly Good”, they sang it long and loud—
The money lender stood unknown amongst the crowd.
He’d taken him aside, while trembling fit to fall,
No friendly eye espied the last farewell of all!
He held a peevish kid—another at his knee;
The wife whom he could bid farewell—eternally
Stood nagging at his side in tones that none could hear,
And deared him, tender eyed, when passengers came near
(The cabin waits below the row and children’s squall,
And not a soul to know the bitter farce of all).
Their hearts were good as gold, each pocket spared a “tray”,
They pooled them as of old to drink him on his way.
His pile of luggage rose, as bravely as the best—
He had two suits of clothes, his wife and kids the rest.
He’d “stood ’em up” a sov., for fear of seeming small,
And he was thinking of that worst farewell of all.
They cheered from cargo ways and ballast heap and pile,
To last him all his days—they sent him off in style.
(He only took his book.) He only turned his head
In one last hopeless look towards a cargo shed
Where one stood brimming eyed in silence by the wall—
No jealous eyes espied that last farewell of all.
The ship is out of sight and out of memory clean,
He’s rolling through the Bight on board the All Serene.
His heart’s like half a brick, the voice of hope is dumb,
He’s handicapped and sick with fear of what’s to come.
They’re passing Cape Leuwin, the half-brick starts to fall,
But with a fiendish grin, he curses land and all.
poem by Henry Lawson
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Related quotes
Ballad IV
Farewell, my lady dear and dread,
Farewell, of all sovereign and queen,
Farewell, perfect and sacred head,
Farewell, who dost all honour mean,
Farewell, true heart, loyal and clean,
Farewell, best flower the world doth bear,
Farewell, yet not farewell, O white and fair !
Farewell, O wise, that no ill said,
Farewell, river that made life green,
Farewell, in whom fame harboured,
Farewell, voice that all ears could win,
Farewell, solace of all my teen,
Farewell, whose grace is wide as air,
Farewell, yet not farewell, O white and fair !
Farewell, soft look that through me sped,
Farewell, more fair than Helen queen,
Farewell, body and sweet soul wed,
Farewell, thou most gracious demesne,
Farewell, pole-star, joyous and keen,
Farewell, fountain of valour rare,
Farewell, yet not farewell, O white and fair !
Farewell, Princess of noblest mien,
Farewell, thou aweing smile serene,
Farewell, without fault, sin's despair,
Farewell, yet not farewell, O white and fair !
poem by Christine de Pizan
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Sea Song of the Exiles
Dear land, farewell!
Waves surge and swell.
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!
Farewell, white cot whence the ripe grapes fall,
Gold blooms that bask on the mossy wall!
Dear land, farewell!
Hill, plain, and dell!
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!
Dear land, farewell!
Waves surge and swell.
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!
Farewell, betrothed, with the pure, pale brow;
'Neath sombre heaven dark billows we plough.
Dear land, farewell!
In thee our loves dwell;
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!
Dear land, farewell!
Waves surge and swell.
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!
Our eyes, whose tears all brightness blot,
Leave the dark wave for a darker lot!
Dear land, farewell!
In our heart's a knell.
Dear land, farewell, --
Blue sky!
poem by Victor Hugo
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Farewell my friend
I could easily foretell
You had something to tell
As you dropped a stinking bombshell
Farewell, farewell my friend
With words I spell
It all out in a nutshell
Farewell, farewell my friend
What else can I say?
When you take off today for good
Farewell I say with a broken mood
Farewell there goes my wedding bell
Farewell there goes your innocent smell
Farewell there goes our fun in and out of hotels
Farewell I hope that life treats you well
Farewell in your ventures
Our spent time is my treasure
Your heart must wander to where it belongs
Friend, I only urge you to be strong
With love you can simply do no wrong
I say it with these words tipping off my tongue
Farewell, farewell my friend
I am a great believer
Farewell is not forever
I say not goodbye
I do not wish to sit and cry
Farewell, farewell my friend
What else can I say?
You weren’t meant to stay
I will do nothing to detain
You from flying on that plane
Farewell, farewell my friend
I say with pain
Farewell, farewell my friend
In sunshine or in rain
One day, one day
I know we’ll see again
Farewell, farewell my friend
I cannot stand and pretend
That a part me
With you, would still like to be!
poem by Sylvia Chidi
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I Say Farewell
I Say Farewell
By Renee'
I say farewell
To all my bad days
I say farewell
To the darkness that enveloped me
I say farewell
To my lost love
I say farewell
To the hurt you caused me
I say farewell
To our shared dreams
I say farewell
No more just you.
I say hello
To new friends
I say Hello
To a new day
I say hello
To the rest of my life.
Although it will take time
I say hello
To a new me
Although I still cry a tear for you
I say farewell
To Anne
I say hello to feature relationships.
poem by Renee' Stretch
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Why My Parents Left Their Home
He stood alone upon the beach
Thinking of his wife and child
Of the future that lies ahead
For his Family he loved so well
If he stayed on the tropical isle
His wife and son would not be world wise
But if he took them both away
To the land of the long white cloud
He would give his son an education
One he never had
A better life
A better dream
Waiting for all who dreamed
But looking at the life he lead
Working of the land
Feeding, clothing, planting, harvesting
Was a good life to have?
But it was education for his son
Something he yearned to have
And as he stood upon the shores
Staring at the gleaming sands
It was then he had decided
To say farewell to this tropical land
poem by Kaila George
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Farewell
FAREWELL: we two shall still meet day by day,
Live side by side;
But never more shall heart respond to heart.
Two stranger boats can drift adown one tide,
Two branches on one stem grow green apart.
Farewell, I say.
Farewell: chance travellers, as the path they tread,
Change words and smile,
And share their travellers' fortunes, friend with friend,
And yet are foreign in their thoughts the while,
Several, alone, save that one way they wend.
Farewell; 'tis said.
Farewell: ever the bitter asphodel
Outlives love's rose;
The fruit and blossom of the dead for us.
Ah, answer me, should this have been the close,
To be together and be sundered thus?
But yet, farewell.
poem by Augusta Davies Webster
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Farewell
Can I see thee stand
On the looming land?
Dost thou wave with thy white hand
Farewell, farewell?
I could think that thou art near,
Thy sweet voice is in mine ear,
Farewell, farewell!
While I listen, all things seem
Singing in a singing dream,
Farewell, farewell!
Echoing in an echoing dream,
Farewell, farewell!
Yon boat upon the sea,
It floats 'twixt thee and me,
I see the boatman listless lie;
He cannot hear the cry
That in mine ears doth ring
Farewell, farewell!
Doth it pass him o'er and o'er,
Heard upon the shore behind,
Farewell, farewell!
Heard upon the ship before,
Farewell, farewell!
Like an arrow that can dart
Viewless thro' the viewless wind,
Plain on the quivering string,
And plain in the victim's heart?
Are there voices in the sky,
Farewell, farewell?
Am I mocked by the bright air,
Farewell, farewell?
The empty air that everywhere
Silvers back the sung reply,
Farewell, farewell!
While to and fro the tremulous accents fly,
Farewell, farewell!
Now shown, now shy,
Farewell, farewell!
Now song, now sigh,
Farewell, farewell!
Toy with the grasping heart that deems them nigh,
Come like blown bells in sudden wind and high,
Or far on furthest verge in lingering echoes die,
Farewell, farewell!
Farewell, farewell, farewell!
Oh, Love! what strange dumb Fate
Hath broken into voice to see us hope?
Surely we part to meet again?
Like one struck blind, I grope
In vain, in vain;
I cannot hold a single sense to tell
The meaning of this melancholy bell,
Farewell, farewell!
I touch them with my thought, and small and great
They join the swaying swell,
Farewell, farewell!
Farewell, farewell, farewell!
Aye, when I felt thee falling
On this heaving breast-
Aye, when I felt thee prest
Nearer, nearer, nearer,
Dearer, dearer, dearer-
Aye, while I saw thy face,
In that long last embrace,
The first, the last, the best-
Aye, while I held thee heart to heart,
My soul had pushed off from the shore,
And we were far apart;
I heard her calling, calling,
From the sea of nevermore
Farewell, farewell!
Fainter, fainter, like a bell
Rung from some receding ship,
Farewell, farewell!
The far and further knell
Did hardly reach my lip,
Farewell, farewell!
Farewell, farewell, farewell!
Away, you omens vain!
Away, away!
What! will you not be driven?
My heart is trembling to your augury.
Hence! Like a flight of seabirds at a gun,
A thousand ways they scatter back to Heaven,
Wheel lessening out of sight, and swoop again as one!
Farewell, farewell!
Farewell, farewell, farewell!
Oh, Love! what fatal spell
Is winding, winding round me to this singing?
What hands unseen are flinging
The tightening mesh that I can feel too well?
What viewless wings are winging
The siren music of this passing bell?
Farewell, farewell!
Farewell, farewell, farewell!
Arouse my heart! arouse!
This is the sea: I strike these wooden walls:
The sailors come and go at my command:
I lift this cable with my hand:
I loose it and it falls:
Arouse! she is not lost,
Thou art not plighted to a moonlight ghost,
But to a living spouse.
Arouse! we only part to meet again!
Oh thou moody main,
Are thy mermaid cells a-ringing?
Are thy mermaid sisters singing?
The saddest shell of every cell
Ringing still, and ringing
Farewell, farewell!
To the sinking sighing singing,
To the floating flying singing,
To the deepening dying singing,
In the swell,
Farewell, farewell!
And the failing wailing ringing,
The reaming dreaming ringing
Of fainter shell in deeper cell,
To the sunken sunken singing,
Farewell, farewell!
Farewell, farewell!
Farewell, farewell, farewell?
poem by Sydney Thompson Dobell
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Rondel
Goodbye! the tears are in my eyes;
Farewell, farewell, my prettiest;
Farewell, of women born the best;
Good-bye! the saddest of good-byes.
Farewell! with many vows and sighs
My sad heart leaves you to your rest;
Farewell! the tears are in my eyes;
Farewell! from you my miseries
Are more than now may be confessed,
And most by thee have I been blessed,
Yea, and for thee have wasted sighs;
Goodbye! the last of my goodbyes.
poem by François Villon
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Farewell To Annabel
Where did ya go when the snow lay on the ground
What did ya do when the rain began to fall
How did it feel when I looked through your soul
When was the last time you wanted my love
How many nights did you cry your dreams to sleep
Why did you hide what you knew would not stay hidden
How could you put yourself through like you did
Im not the kind that would hold you that way
Drop me a line if ya wake up feelin bad
Im still a friend and Id like to hear from you
Where does it say love should last forever
When was the last time I told that to you
Farewell to annabel, farewell
Farewell to annabel, farewell
Farewell to annabel, fare thee well
Farewell to annabel, farewell
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Woman's Farewell
SO with this farewell kiss I taste at last
The all of life; the Future and the Past
Upon your dear lips dwell.
Love will not come again, though I implore;
And in my heart a twilight evermore—
Farewell!
A man's heart is so wide that I was wrong
To dream that I could fill it with the song
A woman loves so well;
A woman's heart is narrow, but I filled
Mine brimming with your kisses—none was spilled—
Farewell!
So fierce your love was, I was half-afraid.
The roses blossom and the roses fade;
The withered petals tell!
So high into your heart you lifted me,
So far I have to fall, since it must be
Farewell!
Now all the world I fashioned round me falls;
And from the past one memory calls and calls,
Grieving, and like a knell;
Now all the days like drear regrets shall seem,
And all the nights—the nights! ..I dare not dream!
Farewell!
But what if I can hold you, hold you yet
Till all else but my lips you must forget:
If love could but compel!
But all the mystic hopes our hearts have heard
Must droop and wither to this wistful word—
Farewell!
My love was like a little child to me;
Now in my heart 't is crying piteously—
Hush, dear! all will be well!
My lips on yours for ever! Say again
You love me—though it be not true—and then—
Farewell!
poem by Arthur Henry Adams
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August
This was its promise, held to faithfully:
The early morning sun came in this way
Until the angle of its saffron beam
Between the curtains and the sofa lay,
And with its ochre heat it spread across
The village houses, and the nearby wood,
Upon my bed and on my dampened pillow
And to the corner where the bookcase stood.
Then I recalled the reason why my pillow
Had been so dampened by those tears that fell-
I'd dreamt I saw you coming one by one
Across the wood to wish me your farewell.
You came in ones and twos, a straggling crowd;
Then suddenly someone mentioned a word:
It was the sixth of August, by Old Style,
And the Transfiguration of Our Lord.
For from Mount Tabor usually this day
There comes a light without a flame to shine,
And autumn draws all eyes upon itself
As clear and unmistaken as a sign.
But you came forward through the tiny, stripped,
The pauperly and trembling alder grove,
Into the graveyard's coppice, russet-red,
Which, like stamped gingerbread, lay there and glowed.
And with the silence of those high treetops
Was neighbour only the imposing sky
And in the echoed crowing of the cocks
The distances and distances rang by:
There in the churchyard underneath the trees,
Like some surveyor from the government
Death gazed on my pale face to estimate
How large a grave would suit my measurement.
All those who stood there could distinctly hear
A quiet voice emerge from where I lay:
The voice was mine, my past; prophetic words
That sounded now, unsullied by decay:
'Farewell, wonder of azure and of gold
Surrounding the Transfiguration's power:
Assuage now with a woman's last caress
The bitterness of my predestined hour!
'Farewell timeless expanse of passing years!
Farewell, woman who flung your challenge steeled
Against the abyss of humiliations:
For it is I who am your battlefield!
'Farewell, you span of open wings outspread,
The voluntary obstinacy of flight,
O figure of the world revealed in speech,
Creative genius, wonder-working might!'
poem by Boris Pasternak
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Alone in grief, alone in thought, alone
[The Pieta’]
alone in grief, alone in thought, alone
the mother stood, the mother wept,
small, silent, tearless tears at the brim
that never came:
The Pieta’
Around the gloom, around the dark, and hopelessness
She held her son a piece of flesh
Alone in grief, alone in thought she stood
The Pieta’
She saw him hit, she saw him fall, his eyes
She closed herself; hers the last kiss
Hers the last touch, farewell:
Alone in grief, alone in thought she stood
Pieta’
poem by Emmanuel George Cefai
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Farewell The Bowl
Farewell to the cup, we have tarried too long,
Where the juice of the grape adds its witch'ry to song.
And the thoughts that flow'd freely are sombre and dull,
Our brains become heavy, farewell to the bowl,
Farewell, farewell, farewell, farewell to the bowl.
Oh, tarry no longer where joy flies away,
The heart and the soul lose their richest array,
Where eye mocketh eye, as unmeaning they roll,
The tongue whispers folly-farewell to the bowl.
Oh, think, if the maiden, who smiles in thine eyes,
Once saw thy proud mind in this shameful disguise;
Her heart would reject thee, how sadly her soul
Would pity and leave thee-oh, flee from the bowl.
Oh think, e'er the moment of thinking is past,
And chains of the mighty upon thee are cast!
Return-ere the iron shall enter thy soul,
And the dregs of thy life-a curse on the bowl.
poem by John Pierpont
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A Farewell to a Manager
'Today brings the end of our trip
our time as a group is now over, that's it
I love the simple word hello
It always rings an enjoyable bell
But one of the saddest words i know
is the tearful word farewell.
The word farewell often brings tears
And I've never known it to bring happiness
in fact the time you say farewell
could also mean your very last goodbye
Farewell is a feeling
of something that’s gone
Farewell is a memory
that stays for too long
Farewell is everything
that’s been left unspoken
Goodbye to a farewell Manager
Goodbye to a farewell friend,
I never expected you to leave but you ran away,
You said you would stay,
But just like that you slammed the door in my face,
So I guess you weren’t meant to stay,
that’s why I say today you’re my farewell friend,
I wish you farewell,
to new and better things,
No matter how tough it is,
never give it up.
Reach for what you want,
and you'll fly into the sky.
So long, I submit you a farewell,
No matter how hard it may be to let you go.
I'll see you again, or perhaps not,
whether you come to visit or it's in my memories.
Never overlook those who love you,
I'm here for you.
I wish you a farewell,
to a new and more thrilling adventure.
Although there will be hard times,
Forget them and remember the good ones
you had here with your staff members or I should say family
Farewell.
”Now I stand here in this small field,
waiting for you to come,
I just can’t face the fact that you’re gone”
poem by Wida Tausif
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Farewell To The Old Year, 1863
Farewell, old year, 'the bourne' is near,
'Whence traveller ne'er returneth'-
Passing away from time for aye,
Thy life-light faintly burneth.
Farewell, old year, dark shapes of fear,
Grim spectres pale and gory,
Flitting around, with moaning sound,
Tell us thy sad war story.
Farewell, old year, we do not fear
Republic or Imperial-
If war inclined, they both shall find
We're rather tough material.
Farewell, old year, thy past career
Hath given both gloom and gladness;
Thou gave us peace, but no decrease
In human crime and madness.
Farewell, old year, the pall and bier
Thou saw us oft attending,
And heard oft-times the merry chimes
Of birth and wedlock blending.
Farewell, old year, a voice we hear,
How solemnly it falleth-
'All flesh is grass,' prepare to pass,
Ere long the Master calleth!
Farewell, old year, thy knell we hear
Through Time's dark arches sounding;
Wrapt in thy shroud, a dense, dark cloud
Thy solemn bier surrounding.
Farewell, old year, we still have cheer,
Though tinged with doubt and sorrow,
We leave thy urn and gladly turn
To give new year good morrow.
poem by Janet Hamilton
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Our Final Farewell
To say our final farewell it happend not that long ago.
Our final farewell, I remember it so clearly.
Our final farewell, I remember your smile.
Our final farewell, I remember how proud you were
that you got promoted.
Our final farewell, happened like any 'goodbye'.
Our final farewell, you seemed happy.
Our final farewell, you seemed to enjoy life.
Our final farewell, you seemed to enjoy everything,
Our final farewell, I remember the conversation.
Our final farewell, sometimes haunts me.
Our final farewell, happened so quick.
Our final farewell, I didn't know that it was going to
be our last.
Our final farewell, happened more then a year ago
Your final farewell, happened on the 15/11/05 as you
took your own life.
poem by Nikki Hamilton
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Farewell Angelina
Farewell Angelina, the bells of the crown
Are being stolen by bandits, I must follow the sound
The triangle tingles, the music plays slow
But farewell Angelina, the night is on fire, and I must go
There is no use in talking and there's no need for blame
There is nothing to prove, everything still is the same
The table stands empty by the edge of the stream
But farewell Angelina, the sky's changing colors, and I must leave
The jacks and the queens they have forsake the courtyard
Fifty-two gypsies now file past the guard
In the space where the deuce and the ace once ran wild
Farewell Angelina, the sky is folding, I'll see you after a while
See the cross-eyed pirate sit perched in the sun
Shooting tin cans with a sawed-off shotgun
And the corporals and the neighbors clap and cheer with each blast
But farewell Angelina, the sky is trembling, and I must leave fast
King Kong little elves in the rooftops they dance
Valentino-type tangos while the hero's clean hands
Shut the eyes of the dead not to embarrass anyone
Farewell Angelina, the sky is flooding over, and I must be gone
The camouflaged parrot, he flutters from fear
When something he doesn't know about suddenly appears
What can not be imitated perfect must die
Farewell Angelina, the sky's flooding over, and I must go where it is dry
Machine guns are roaring, puppets heave rocks
At misunderstood visions and at the faces of clocks
Call me any name you like, I will never deny it
But farewell Angelina, the sky is erupting, and I must go where it's quiet
song performed by by John Mellencamp
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cleveland's Song
Farewell! Farewell! the voice you hear,
Has left its last soft tone with you,-
Its next must join the seaward cheer,
And shout among the shouting crew.
The accents which I scarce could form
Beneath your frown's controlling check,
Must give the word, above the storm,
To cut the mast, and clear the wreck.
The timid eye I dared not raise,-
The hand, that shook when press'd to thine,
Must point the guns upon the chase-
Must bid the deadly cutlass shine.
To all I love, or hope, or fear,-
Honour, or own, a long adieu!
To all that life has soft and dear,
Farewell! save memory of you!
poem by Sir Walter Scott
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J. J. Sneed
Writers Dolly Parton , Dorothy Jo Hope
Copyright 1970
At last I have called up with you and you're a sight to see
Could this really be my outlaw lover JJ Sneed
Could a woman with a painted face and pretty sweet disguise
Turn your heart against me with her evil cunning eyes her evil cunning eyes
JJ it's been you and me right from the very start
And ever job we ever pulled I'd always done my part
We'd really stick together until the bitter end
And it was my understanding we were whole lots more than friends
A whole lot more than friends
And it was me that kept you on when nights were dark and cold
But I guess I didn't look like much in these old ragged clothes
But you said it didn't matter cause you love me that a way
You said that no one else could ever steal your heart away steal your heart away
Do you recall the Union Bank we robbed in Franklin Town
And as we made our getaway the sheriff gunned you down
And I doctored up your bullet wounds and nursed you while you sit
But now you have betrayed me is that the thanks I get is that the thanks I get
Oh yeah JJ I'm thinking now of how we'd all begun
Of all the times we've robbed and killed with our trust wordy gun
Why we stood off a fuss it was JJ just you and I
But now you have betrayed me and for that you're gonna die
Yeah for that you're gonna die
The good old days are over as we stand here in the rain
JJ I'm gonna shoot you now I hope you'll feel no pain
I hear whoopees of the horses and fieces on my trail
I guess I'll join you soon but for now JJ farewell for now JJ farewell
song performed by by Dolly Parton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We Said Goodbye
We said goodbye
Long before this final farewell.
My heart once cold to any thought
Of you,
Retraces the path we took to love
So long ago.
I shed a tear for those fond memories,
And fight through the veil of time and space
That came between us.
I call no name to blame,
I will not curse the
Time lost that might have been.
Farewell to you once loved so dearlly,
How did we forget the forever of it?
Farewell!
Farewell!
I scatter you on the wind and wings
Of my memories.
Farewell,
Some day I shall
Weep
No
More!
July 2,1982
poem by Dorothy Holmes
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