Farewell to the Farm

Robert Louis Stevenson · 1885

Catalog grade guidance: K–5 — Short children’s lyric; good for early memorization and reading aloud.

18 content lines · 107 words · Est. recitation about 1 min 5 sec (approx.)

Public-domain text for reading and recitation practice. Source: Project Gutenberg #136.Estimated time uses ~120 words/minute plus short pauses—not a contest rule.

Farewell to the Farm

  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!


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