Rhyme-Garrett Uebelhor

Now that You Too Must Shortly Go
By Eleanor Farjeon 

Now that you too must shortly go the way   A

Which in these bloodshot years uncounted men   B

Have gone in vanishing armies day by day,   A

And in their numbers will not come again:  B

I must not strain the moments of our meeting   C

Striving for each look, each accent, not to miss, D

Or question of our parting and our greeting,    C

Is this the last of all? is this—or this?   D

Last sight of all it may be with these eyes,   E

Last touch, last hearing, since eyes, hands, and ears,   F

Even serving love, are our mortalities,   E

And cling to what they own in mortal fears:—  F

But oh, let end what will, I hold you fast  G

By immortal love, which has no first or last. G

This poem illustrates the great sorrow and anxiety which occurs when two lovers must depart. It explains that when one is faced with losing someone that they try to cherish every moment they have left with their loved one and still retain their love for them even when they are gone. We see that love is not something which can be easily forgotten and that if you truly love someone your feelings will never really disappear. 

 Eleanor's poem follows a ABAB CDCD EFEFGG rhyme scheme which helps to set apart the last two phrases in the poem. As a result of the poem ending with two end rhymes (GG)  in a row instead of its previous alternating end rhymes (ABAB) the realization and resistance to love loss the poet achieves in the last line is really emphasized. We, the audience, as a result of the emphasis are better able to understand that even though the poet feels great sadness about her loss she has not given up ,and will not give up. This line seems to almost stand out defiantly from the rest of the passage and seems to symbolize how the author will not merely allow herself and her love to be diminished due to the wartime separation. 

Farjeon, Eleanor. "Now That You Too Must Shortly Go." Poetry Foundation. Web. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/248384>.