"Away, Melancholy" is English poet Stevie Smith's song of sorrow and hope. The poem's speaker, hoping to banish their "melancholy," reflects that while the world might sometimes seem unbelievably terrible, it's also miraculous. And that, the speaker argues, is because humanity manages to have faith in love and goodness in spite of life's pains. Smith first published this poem in her famous 1957 collection Not Waving But Drowning.

• Read the full text of “Away, Melancholy”

• “Away, Melancholy” Summary

• “Away, Melancholy” Themes

  • 

    Despair and Hope

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-48
  • 

    Humanity vs. Nature

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 8-27

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Away, Melancholy”

  • Lines 1-7

    Away, melancholy, ...
    ... Away melancholy.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 8-12

    The ant is ...
    ... Away, melancholy.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-17

    Man, too, hurries, ...
    ... let it go.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 18-27

    Man of all ...
    ... let it go.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 28-36

    Speak not to ...
    ... let it go.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 37-46

    Man aspires ...
    ... Not his failing.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 47-48

    Away, melancholy, ...
    ... let it go.

    

    

    

    

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• “Away, Melancholy” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Refrain

    

    

    

    

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    Where refrain appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “Away, melancholy, / Away with it, let it go.”
    • Line 7: “Away melancholy.”
    • Line 12: “Away, melancholy.”
    • Lines 16-17: “With a hey ho melancholy, / Away with it, let it go.”
    • Line 20: “(Away melancholy)”
    • Line 23: “(Away melancholy)”
    • Line 27: “Away melancholy, let it go.”
    • Line 36: “Away, melancholy, let it go.”
    • Lines 47-48: “Away, melancholy, / Away with it, let it go.”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “green”
    • Line 4: “green”
    • Line 5: “wind blow”
    • Line 6: “Fire leap,” “rivers flow”
    • Line 8: “The ant is busy”
    • Line 10: “All things hurry”
    • Line 24: “god”
    • Line 25: “good”
    • Line 26: “good, God.”
    • Line 30: “God”
    • Line 31: “good”
    • Line 34: “man's,” “good”
    • Line 35: “man's,” “God”
    • Line 38: “good”
    • Line 44: “Love, love.”

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

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    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-6: “Are not the trees green, / The earth as green? / Does not the wind blow, / Fire leap and the rivers flow?”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 13-14: “hurries, / Eats, couples, buries,”
    • Lines 28-29: “tears, / Tyranny, pox, wars,”
    • Lines 41-44: “Beaten, corrupted, dying / In his own blood lying / Yet heaves up an eye above / Cries, Love, love.”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 6: “Fire,” “flow”
    • Line 24: “god”
    • Line 25: “good”
    • Line 26: “good, God”
    • Line 28: “tears”
    • Line 29: “Tyranny”
    • Line 30: “God”
    • Line 31: “good”
    • Lines 33-34: “stuffed / Stone”
    • Line 34: “good, growing”
    • Line 35: “God”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “trees green”
    • Line 4: “green”
    • Line 6: “leap”
    • Line 8: “is busy”
    • Line 11: “be eaten,” “eat”
    • Line 15: “also”
    • Line 16: “ho”
    • Line 21: “He,” “creatures,” “alone”
    • Line 22: “stone”
    • Line 24: “stone”
    • Line 25: “knows”
    • Line 28: “tears”
    • Line 29: “Tyranny”
    • Line 30: “God”
    • Line 31: “thoughts”
    • Line 32: “enough”
    • Line 33: “stuffed”
    • Line 34: “Stone,” “growing”
    • Line 45: “explaining”
    • Line 46: “failing”

• “Away, Melancholy” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Melancholy
  • Carrieth his meat
  • Couples
  • Superlative
  • Pox
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “Away, melancholy,”; Line 7: “Away melancholy.”; Line 12: “Away, melancholy.”; Line 16: “With a hey ho melancholy,”; Line 20: “(Away melancholy)”; Line 23: “(Away melancholy)”; Line 27: “Away melancholy, let it go.”; Line 36: “Away, melancholy, let it go.”; Line 47: “Away, melancholy,”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Away, Melancholy”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Away, Melancholy” Speaker

• “Away, Melancholy” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Away, Melancholy”

• More “Away, Melancholy” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.

    • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Stevie Smith's life and work at the Poetry Foundation.

    • Smith's Influence — Read an appreciation of Smith's poetry that praises her knack for "uneasy verse."

    • Smith on Melancholy — Listen to Smith discussing how sadness and struggle inspired her poetry.

    • Smith's Legacy — Read a 2021 article honoring the 50th anniversary of Smith's death.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Stevie Smith

    • Not Waving but Drowning

    • Touch and Go

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