FOREGO/FORGO

(A proofreader's note regarding “forego” and “forgo”)

We often forget that “forego” and “forgo”

Are verbs that have meanings distinct;

Their English ancestors “foregan” and “forgan”

Had targets that never were linked.

“To go on before” was the meaning of one,

The other “from something abstain.”

Today, in our speech, these words echo themselves,

Yet play disparate parts in the main.

A thing that precedes may be said to “forego”

As long as the mid “e” is kept;

Renouncing the “e” would be “doing without,”

Which only “forgo” could accept.

The clue is the prefix with meaning “before,”

As “fore” tells the tale of its time.

The clearly “foregone” has already occurred,

No matter the vibe or the clime.

“Forgo,” as its focus, has “doing without”

To offer in most fitting use.

“To do without, lose, and to forfeit, give up”

Are senses with similar views.

But sometimes “forgo” is misspelled as “forego,”

A laxity sad and deplorable.

This written misuse is so common today,

The words may appear interchangeable.

“Though others forewent them, they said they'd forgo

The hike to the dusty hilltop.

By foregone conclusion, the trail would be parched;

They'd better forgo or they'd drop.”