Uploaded on November 6, 2011

The coach is as the door at last;
The eager children, mounting fast
And kissing hands, in chorus sing:
Good-by, good-by, to everything!

To house and garden, field and lawn,
The meadow gates we swang upon,
To pump and stable, tree and swing,
Good-by, good-by, to everything!

And fare you well for evermore,
O ladder at the hayloft door,
O hayloft where the cobwebs cling,
Good-by, good-by, to everything!

Crack goes the whip, and off we go;
The trees and houses smaller grow;
Last, round the woody turn we swing;
Good-by, good-by, to everything!

—Robert Louis Stevenson
Favorite Poems Old and New
edited by Helen Ferris


11.06.2023:Apparently, this image or this poem strikes a chord. It’s racked up more than 1,000 views on Flickr, so I’ll leave it up over there.