Analysis of Andy's Return

Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)



With pannikins all rusty,
And billy burnt and black,
And clothes all torn and dusty,
That scarcely hide his back;
With sun-cracked saddle-leather,
And knotted greenhide rein,
And face burnt brown with weather,
Our Andy’s home again!
His unkempt hair is faded
With sleeping in the wet,
He’s looking old and jaded;
But he is hearty yet.
With eyes sunk in their sockets—
But merry as of yore;
With big cheques in his pockets,
Our Andy’s home once more!

Old Uncle’s bright and cheerful;
He wears a smiling face;
And Aunty’s never tearful
Now Andy’s round the place.
Old Blucher barks for gladness;
He broke his rusty chain,
And leapt in joyous madness
When Andy came again.

With tales of flood and famine,
On distant northern tracks,
And shady yarns—‘baal gammon!’
Of dealings with the blacks,
From where the skies hang lazy
On many a northern plain,
From regions dim and hazy
Our Andy’s home again!

His toil is nearly over;
He’ll soon enjoy his gains.
Not long he’ll be a drover,
And cross the lonely plains.
We’ll happy be for ever
When he’ll no longer roam,
But by some deep, cool river
Will make us all a home.


Scheme ababcdcEfgfghihi jkjkhdxe lmlmadaE cncncoco
Poetic Form Etheree  (28%)
Metre 11110 010101 0111010 110111 1111010 01011 0111110 101101 1011110 110001 1101010 111101 1110110 110111 1110110 101111 1101010 110101 011010 11101 11111 111101 0101010 110101 1111010 110101 0101110 110101 1101110 1100101 1101010 101101 1111010 110111 1111010 010101 1101110 111101 1111110 111101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,113
Words 202
Sentences 11
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 16, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 216
Words per stanza (avg) 50
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:00 min read
65

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson 17 June 1867 - 2 September 1922 was an Australian writer and poet Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period more…

All Henry Lawson poems | Henry Lawson Books

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