Analysis of Because My Father's One
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
It was the King of Virland –
0 he was angry then –
That rode to crush rebellion
With twenty thousand men.
His enemies he scattered
And hanged on every side,
Because their creed was rapine,
Their cause was greed and pride.
They searched for Outlaw Eric,
They hunted everywhere –
(Most honest of the rebels
If aught was honest there).
King Hertzberg swore to hang him,
But, when the day was done,
They had not found the Outlaw,
But found his little son.
He had not seen his father,
Nor knew where he had gone;
And someone asked him, thoughtless,
Which side himself was on,
And straightway he made answer –
They found he answered true –
'My father is a rebel,
And I'm a rebel too.'
King Hertzberg, he dismounted,
And kindly bent his head:
'Now, why are you a rebel,
My little man?' he said.
The boy nor paused nor faltered,
But stood like Eric's son,
And answered Hertzberg simply –
'Because my father's one.'
And then they promised all things,
Dear to his heart, I ween –
They promised they would make him
The first page to the queen,
With princesses for playmates –
But, nay, it would not do –
'My father is a rebel,
And I'm a rebel too!'
King Hertzberg sank beside him
And rested on one knee.
'I would my royal children
As loyal were!' said he.
'Go, seek and tell your father
That he and his go free,
And if his wrongs be real
Then let him come to me.
'And let him come with plain words,
With plain words in daylight,
And ride not with armed rebels
And outlaws in the night.
And let him not misjudge me –
For to all that is untrue,
And wherever Wrong's the ruler,
I am a rebel too.
Scheme | abcbaaba xdedfcxc gxxxghIA aaiaacjc xbfxxaIA fjcjgjxj xaeajhga |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111 11101 1111010 110101 1100110 0111001 011111 111101 111110 11010 1101010 111101 1101111 110111 111101 111101 1111110 111111 011110 110111 011110 111101 1101010 010101 11011 010111 1111010 110111 0111110 111101 0101010 011101 0111011 111111 1101111 011101 110011 111111 1101010 010101 1101011 010111 1111010 110011 1101110 110111 011111 111111 0111111 11101 0111110 01001 0111011 1111101 00101010 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,554 |
Words | 312 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 172 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 121 Views
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