Farewell To England (A Ballad For The Emigrant)
England, farewell! - not lightly, nor gladly,
Now, at the last, do I bid thee farewell!
Hope may be smiling, but Memory sadly
Weeps for awhile in the penitent's cell:
Yet, O my country! I dare not regret thee;
Providence calls me to come from thy shore;
And, though my spirit shall never forget thee,
England, farewell! - I return nevermore!
'Go to replenish the earth, and subdue it,-
Seek a new country,- seek a new home;'
Never shall doubtfulness make my heart rue it;
God will be with me, wherever I roam!
Duty, and zeal, and need, and ambition,
Drove and persuaded my faith to go forth,-
And, if I fail in my emigrant mission,
Lo! I will fail at the ends of the earth!
England, farewell! With Goodness to guide me,
Pilgrim and stranger, I sail for the South,-
Trusting in Covenant Love to provide me
Food for the spirit, as food for the mouth:
Hope be my beacon, and Hope be my anchor,
Fixing my way-weary steps on a soil
Kind, and uncurst by poverty's canker,
Fresh to my foot, and free to my toil!
There, for the Thames is my clear Yarra-Yarra;
There, in bright Melbourne my London shall be;
There, far away, shall the wild Illawarra
Smile as the Devonshire valleys for me!
There shall my flocks -
my
flocks, not another's,-
Pasture on hills that are sprinkled with gold;
There, among neighbours, all freemen and brothers,
May I grow better, and live to grow old!
There, in the midst of plentiful blessing,
Let me be gratefully zealous, and win
Souls to the Lord, from the lust of possessing,
Sons to be free, from the servants of sin;-
There, though I came a poor pilgrim and stranger,
Round the rich patriarch children shall dwell,-
Therefore, to poverty, trouble, and danger,
To these, as to thee, dear old England, farewell!
poem by Martin Farquhar Tupper
Added by Poetry Lover
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