Robert Burns

Farewell to Eliza

written in 1786

Farewell to Eliza - fact Summary

Written in 1786

This short lyric is a direct farewell from the speaker to Eliza as he must leave his native shore and cross an ocean. Despite physical separation and the speaker’s fear they may part forever, he insists that neither distance nor death can sever his love. The voice is intimate and elegiac, addressing Eliza with repeated farewells and final vows. The poem reflects Burns’s personal emotions and experience of parting, capturing steadfast attachment amid inevitable separation.

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From thee, Eliza, I must go, And from my native shore: The cruel fates between us throw A boundless ocean's roar; But boundless oceans, roaring wide, Between my Love and me, They never, never can divide My heart and soul from thee. Farewell, farewell, Eliza dear, The maid that I adore! A boding voice is in mine ear, We part to meet no more! But the latest throb that leaves my heart, While Death stands victor by, That throb, Eliza, is thy part, And thine that latest sigh!

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