Analysis of Cypher Seven
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
The nearer camp fires lighted,
The distant beacons bright—
The horsemen on the skyline
Are closing in to-night!
My brothers, Oh my brothers!
Lie down and rest at last—
The Years of Reparation
Have rushed upon us fast.
Oh, ride and ride, you riders,
Who rode ere I was born,
While blink-and-blink the star-dust
That blinks before the morn.
And glow and glow you camp fires,
And flash, you beacons bright!
They’re riding round the wronged ones
And riding round the right!
My brothers, Oh my brothers!
With dried and haggard eyes,
In gaol for just blows stricken—
In gaol for women’s lies!
Lie down and pace no longer
But bathe your eyes in tears
For Years of Retribution
That shall be seven years!
Their lovers and believers!
Their sweethearts, sisters, wives,
Their daughters, sons and mothers,
The true friends of their lives!
Hold up your heads and firmly
Look down the Crooked Seers
For Years of Justifying
That shall be seven years.
Inventors, artists, poets—
Exiled or driven mad,
Sweated, sneered at, slandered,
And driven to the bad—
Take up the tools of genius,
Freed from all paltry fears,
For Seasons of Repayment
That shall be seven years.
Oh, ride and ride, you riders,
That rode when I was born
Against a ghastly skyline
Beneath a storm-cloud torn!
I watched you through my childhood,
I saw the whip and spur,
No spy’s glass could detect you
But I knew what you were!
Oh, ride and ride, my riders,
And flash my birth star bright!
The youth I never dreamed of
Is with me here to-night!
The hearing, strength and vision,
The will to do and dare,
The love I ever longed for
Is round me everywhere.
Dead Friendship—ah! Dead Friendship,
Rise up and breathe again—
I ride my rounds re-honoured
Along the ranks of men.
My old mates, Oh! my old mates,
Who fought the cur and brute—
My horsemen from the skyline
Are drawn up to salute!
My Dead Love, Oh! my Dead Love,
Who died for love of me—
Who sleeps amongst the poets
Since five years sobbed the sea.
Since five years blackened honour
And cramped and warped the pen—
There’s glory to your spirit
The laurel leafs again.
My enemies, the causeless
Of vicious mysteries,
Or mad with jealous madness—
Or for the crawler’s fees—
Fear ye my Cypher Seven!
For seven years to run—
The number set by Heaven
When Heaven’s will is done.
So ride and ride, my riders,
And ride for men and me,
Ride close round madness yonder
And blackest treachery!
Oh! ride round little children
That sleep through all and smile!—
At daybreak I will lead you—
Now I must rest awhile.
Scheme | abcbDefe Dgxgdbxb DhfhixfJ dxdxkxxJ lmxmnjxJ Dgcgxioi dbpbfqxq xrarxscs pklkirxr dtntffff dkikfuou |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011010 010101 010101 110011 1101110 110111 011010 110111 1101110 111111 1101011 110101 01011110 011101 1101011 010101 1101110 110101 0111110 01111 1101110 111101 111010 111101 1100010 11101 1101010 011111 1111010 110101 111100 111101 0101010 11101 101110 010101 1101110 111101 1101010 111101 1101110 111111 010101 010111 111111 110101 1111011 111110 1101110 011111 0111011 111111 0101010 011101 0111011 11110 1101110 110101 111111 010111 1111111 110101 110101 111101 1111111 111111 1101010 111101 111101 010101 1101110 010101 110001 110100 1111010 11011 1111010 110111 0101110 110111 1101110 011101 1111010 010100 1111010 111101 111111 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,474 |
Words | 455 |
Sentences | 32 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 88 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 178 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:16 min read
- 131 Views
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"Cypher Seven" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17776/cypher-seven>.
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