Bon Voyage by Edwin Arlington Robinson
“Bon Voyage” portrays a joyous, mocking, restless boy of ancient and modern lineage, “child of the Cyclades / And of Broadway,” who lives lightly amid pleasure, music, and social ease. Though he is drawn by unsung songs and senses sorrow beneath his gaiety, he lacks the deeper art needed to understand or escape his own patterns. He spends himself carelessly, laughing at feasts and funerals alike, accepting his smallness in larger events. Criticized for deceit and defeated by youth, he nevertheless continues his vivid, misguided course, guided only by a siren song. When his brightness fades, he quietly removes himself from sight, carried away with wind and tide before others fully notice.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1928 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Elegy, Character Portrait Poetry · 254 words
First lines
CHILD of a line accurst
And old as Troy, / Bringer of best and worst
In wild alloy -
Light, like a linnet first,
What this Textopian page supports
Bon Voyage is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1928 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1928 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Elegy, Character Portrait Poetry, Narrative Poetry, Tragic Poetry
- Length: 254 words
- Structure: 1 section, 37 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Bon Voyage by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Similar titles
- The False Gods by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- The Long Race by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- The Three Taverns by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Caput Mortuum by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Late Summer by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Afterthoughts by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a compact, musical poem centered on emotional reflection, vivid imagery, and a speaker's elegiac response to a fleeting life.
- Elegy — It memorializes a youthful, exuberant figure whose brilliance fades and who withdraws 'out of view,' creating a tone of loss and belated recognition.
- Character Portrait Poetry — The poem chiefly constructs a complex portrait of a charming, reckless, gifted, and ultimately defeated young man through compressed descriptive stanzas.
- Narrative Poetry — Although highly lyrical, it traces a discernible life arc: joyful beginning, careless excess, public reproach, artistic limitation, and final disappearance.
Tags
poetry · modernist literature · American literature · lyric poetry · reflective · melancholic · philosophical · introspective · symbolism · mortality · human nature · isolation