To view more poems I have examined, click HERE.
Farewell To The Farm
by Robert Louis Stevenson
The coach is at the door at last;
The eager children, mounting fast
And kissing hands, in chorus sing:
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!
To house and garden, field and lawn,
The meadow-gates we swang upon,
To pump and stable, tree and swing,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!
And fare you well for evermore,
O ladder at the hayloft door,
O hayloft where the cobwebs cling,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!
Crack goes the whip, and off we go;
The trees and houses smaller grow;
Last, round the woody turn we swing:
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!
___________________________________
This is a personal favorite. When I was a child, I once participated in a farewell to a farm and I remember it well. We left via pickup truck, pulling our belongings in a horse trailer, rather than via coaches, but much of the rest was the same as the Stevenson piece. One thing that stands out to me, reading the poem now, is the lack of mention of the place to where the family is going or any reason for leaving. The result creates for me a sense that the farewell is one made either in blind error or under duress. The children are the only ones described as “eager.” The omission of the feelings of their parents is loud in its silence.
There is another explanation for that silence. The poem i written from the perspective of a child, to an audience of children. Including the adult explanation would have been out of place. Farewell to the Farm was one of 64 other poems, written in 1885, explicitly for children, in a volume called “A Child’s Garden of Verses.” Even still you cannot help but feel some sadness in the piece.
Put it another way, regardless of your brave face, if “everything” lies behind you, then that leaves nothing left to stand before you.
The story is familiar. The Western World was once largely agrarian. Over the last century and a half, though, a huge number of people left their rural family-owned farms for jobs, education, access to amenities, and other things in towns and cities. Over time, even smaller towns began to die as its residents left for larger ones. The image of the rural folk was of one who were stubbornly hanging on – an image which in turn led to its own occasionally defiant art. (Below is one of my favorites of that ilk.)
Farewell to the Farm is a sixteen line poem, comprised of four quatrains, with a rhyme scheme of AABB CCBB DDBB EEBB, and a meter of iambic tetrameter (four beats per line.) Tennyson utilizes several poetic techniques effectively, but the one that likely stands out most is repetition. The final line of each stanza is the same. The use of repetition in this way creates a sense of somberness. “Farewell to the Farm” might be the title, but the repeated line is the emotion of the piece and feels like the work’s true title.
Was the (IMO false) cheeriness without a purpose? No. As mentioned above, the poem is part of a volume of children’s poetry titled “A Child’s Garden of Verses.” We might argue today about the consequences of the Industrial Revolution, and whether those consequences were positive for humanity, but for children living in those times, the poems were relatable to their own experience. This one indicated to its young readers that they were not the only ones going through this considerable change – and perhaps that was of some comfort. If the poem also subtly nodded to the children and their parents that we all wished that this hadn’t had to happen, then all the better. That’s a good thing to communicate as well.
Only recently has there been any societal indication that this shift from rural to urban is abating. Over the last decade, especially in the U.S., there is a growing number of young adults who are leaving urban conveniences behind in exchange for land ownership, self-sufficiency, and personal freedom. (article excerpt below)
Millennials and Gen Z return to their roots with homesteading
By Sarita Harbour
Millennials and Generation Z have made a noticeable shift back to basics in recent years. Learn how and why these younger groups increasingly turn towards homesteading and how they differ from previous generations of homesteaders.
The appeal of growing food, raising livestock and living more sustainably has caught the imagination of younger generations under 40. They’re looking for meaningful ways to address climate change, deal with food supply issues and live a lifestyle aligned with their values. And they’re taking action by pursuing traditional homesteading activities that let them live more independently of the systems and infrastructure they grew up with.
The allure of self-sufficiency
A 2023 poll by Homesteaders of America, or HOA for short, shows that nearly half of the 4000 respondents are under 39, falling into the Millennial and Gen Z demographics. At the same time, almost 47% of respondents are relatively new to homesteading, with 25.5% starting homesteads in the previous 1 to 3 years and 21.6% beginning in the last 4 to 6 years.
These numbers support the growing interest in learning self-sufficiency skills like homesteading, foraging for food and identifying wild edible plants. Interest in these activities may help counter the consumerism millennials experienced growing up.
A lot of people witnessed how much more successfully the American Amish handled and helped with Hurricane Helene, late in 2024, than did our own 21st century modern government, and many began to reconsider their grandparents’ move into town. My social media algorithms are replete with homesteader tips, Amish home remedy ideas, and the like. It feels like something important has shifted, though it remains to be seen whether the momentum will continue to grow or how that will play out over time.
Perhaps someday, one of these intrepid young homesteaders will write a volume of poetry about children moving to a farm. Until then, enjoy Robert Louis Stevenson.
