This little poem catches a moment of departure from a much-loved place, seen through a child’s eyes. A coach waits, and the children scramble in, their mood a mix of eagerness for the journey and a need to honor everything they’re leaving behind. They chant a rhyming farewell to the whole sprawling geography of their play: house, garden, swinging meadow-gates, pump, stable, tree, and swing. Each stanza lovingly names these familiar things, giving the poem the feel of a game or a skipping song. The hayloft with its cobwebs gets a special, almost tender goodbye — the kind of detail a child would remember. Then the whip cracks, the coach rolls, and the world shrinks. As the farm disappears around a bend, the singing continues, turning loss into rhythm. The mood is sweet and wistful, never heavy, because grief here is wrapped in motion and melody. It feels like a happy memory already tinged with the ache of leaving it behind.
Farewell to the Farm — Summary
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 sing: Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!