A Leave-Taking
By Algernon Charles Swinburne
Let us go hence, my songs; she will not hear.
Let us go hence together without fear;
Keep silence now, for singing-time is over,
And over all old things and all things dear.
She loves not you nor me as all we love her.
Yea, though we sang as angels in her ear,
She would not hear.Let us rise up and part; she will not know.
Let us go seaward as the great winds go,
Full of blown sand and foam; what help is here?
There is no help, for all these things are so,
And all the world is bitter as a tear.
And how these things are, though ye strove to show,
She would not know.Let us go home and hence; she will not weep.
We gave love many dreams and days to keep,
Flowers without scent, and fruits that would not grow,
Saying ‘If thou wilt, thrust in thy sickle and reap.’
All is reaped now; no grass is left to mow;
And we that sowed, though all we fell on sleep,
She would not weep.Let us go hence and rest; she will not love.
She shall not hear us if we sing hereof,
Nor see love’s ways, how sore they are and steep.
Come hence, let be, lie still; it is enough.
Love is a barren sea, bitter and deep;
And though she saw all heaven in flower above,
She would not love.Let us give up, go down; she will not care.
Though all the stars made gold of all the air,
And the sea moving saw before it move
One moon-flower making all the foam-flowers fair;
Though all those waves went over us, and drove
Deep down the stifling lips and drowning hair,
She would not care.Let us go hence, go hence; she will not see.
Sing all once more together; surely she,
She too, remembering days and words that were,
Will turn a little toward us, sighing; but we,
We are hence, we are gone, as though we had not been there.
Nay, and though all men seeing had pity on me,
She would not see.
Summary of A Leave-Taking
- Popularity of “A Leave-Taking”: The poem, A Leave-Taking, is written by Algernon Charles Swinburne, an English novelist, critic, playwright, and poet. It is a beautiful love poem published in 1866, but not clear where it was released first. The great and unique feature of this poem is that the poet calls his songs to accompany him on different romantic escapades.
- “A Leave-Taking” As a Representative of Love: This six-stanza poem sheds light on the love of the poet and his final decision to leave his beloved after finding her irresponsive. The poet calls his songs to leave with him as his beloved is irresponsive. He tells his songs that their time for happiness and singing is over, as his beloved would not hear them. He, again, asks them to go to the sea to see the sand and foam and leave the world to his beloved, as she is not interested in this romantic adventure of the poet. He, then, asks his songs to leave his beloved, for it is the fruit of their hard work that will go wasted, as she would not feel any regret. He also asks his songs not to feel the aches of this failure, for love is such “a barren sea.” In the next two stanzas, the poem repeats the same theme about leaving as his beloved would not care and would notice their departure. She has lost her compassionate spirit, and they must leave immediately.
- Major Themes in “A Leave-Taking”: Unrequited love, the futility of obsessed love, and the heartlessness of the beloved are three major themes of this poem. The entire poem laments the unrequited love of the beloved of the poem, who is not responding as he repeats several times that she does not care, does not see, and does not respond. This shows that the poet is slow in becoming aware of the futility of his obsession, to which she is irresponsive. It also shows that his beloved is heartless, and the poet loses all hopes of getting any response for his singing in her love.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used In A Leave-Taking
literary devices add beauty and meaning to simple poetic compositions. Algernon Charles Swinburne also used some literary devices in this poem. The analysis is as follows.
- Anaphora: It means to repeat the first part of the sentence in other clauses and sentences such as “Let us…” is an anaphora first two stanzas.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “Let us go hence together without fear” and the sound of /o/ and /i/ in “And over all old things and all things dear” and the sound of /o/, the sound of /oo/, and /ee/ in “She loves not you nor me as all we love her.”
- Alliteration: The poem shows rich use of alliteration in the shape of initial consonant sounds of the neighboring words, such as the sound of /th/ in “these things”, the sound of /m/ in “moon-flower making” and /f/ in “foam-flowers fair.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /l/ and the sound of /r/ in “She loves not you nor me as all we love her”, the sound of /s/ and /r/ in “Keep silence now, for singing-time is over” and the sound of /l/ and /n/ in “Full of blown sand and foam; what help is here?”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
And the sea moving saw before it move
One moon-flower making all the foam-flowers fair.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “Keep silence now, for singing time is over”, “And all the world is bitter as a tear”, and “We gave love dreams and days to keep.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between different objects. The poet has used an extended metaphor of love to show the futility of his efforts. However, the best metaphor is “Love is a barren sea, bitter and deep.”
- Personification: The poet has personified songs as if they have life and emotions of their own. That is why he addresses them as “Let us…”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of symbols of natural objects and phenomena to point out the heartlessness of his beloved.
- Simile: The poem shows the use of similes such as “the world is bitter as a tear” and “we are gone, as though we had not been there.”
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in A Leave-Taking
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: The poem shows good rhythmic diction with a serious as well as tragic tone.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem shows the use of the AABACAA rhyme scheme in almost all six stanzas.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. The poem has six stanzas, with each having seven verses.
- Repetition: The poem shows the use of repetition, a rhetorical device, stressing upon the thematic strand of poverty such as “Let us…”, “She would not…” and certain concepts or words such as “love.”
Quotes to be Used
These lines from “A Leave-Taking” are appropriate to quote when delivering a lecture on the absurdity of love.
Let us go home and hence; she will not weep.
We gave love many dreams and days to keep,
Flowers without scent, and fruits that would not grow,
Saying ‘If thou wilt, thrust in thy sickle and reap.’
