19 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 swung 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 swing;

Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

(Robert Louis Stevenson)

Word list

farewell: goodbye

eager: really wanting to do something

stable: a house for horses

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) What are the children in the country eager to do?

2) Why do the trees and houses grow smaller?

3) Where do you think the children are going?

4) How do you think the children feel about saying goodbye?

5) Would you rather live in the city or the country? Why?

B) Rhyming—Find words in the poem that rhyme with these ones.

1) evermore - _ _ _ _

2) everything - _ _ _ _ _

3) upon - _ _ _ _

4) fast - l _ _ _

5) go - _ _ _ _

C) What's the word? Using the clues, find the correct words in the reading.

1) a place where grass grows - l _ _ _

2) these are made by spiders - c _ _ _ _ _ _

3) it is used for reaching high places - l _ _ _ _ _

4) fruit and vegetables grow here - g _ _ _ _ _

5) this is used to make horses go faster - w _ _ _