Charles Kingsley’s “A Farewell” is a short, intimate goodbye. The speaker—likely a parent or guardian—looks at his “fairest child” under a sky too dull and grey for any lark to sing. He admits right away that he has no bright song to offer in this low moment. Instead, he shares one simple lesson that can guide her every ordinary day: be good, sweet girl, and don’t worry about being clever; act on noble impulses rather than just dreaming about them. If she follows that quiet advice, he promises, her whole life—along with death and the “vast for-ever” beyond—will blend into a single beautiful melody. The poem’s sadness is softened by tenderness, and its short, rhyming lines feel like a hushed lullaby. Kingsley turns the ache of parting into a gift, trusting that a life lived with simple goodness becomes its own grand, sweet song.
A Farewell — Summary
I
My fairest child, I have no song to give you; No lark could pipe to skies so dull and grey: Yet, ere we part, one lesson I can leave you For every day.
II
Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever; Do noble things, not dream them, all day long: And so make life, death, and that vast for-ever One grand, sweet song.