Analysis of The Bill of the Ages
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
He shall live to the end of this mad old world, he has lived since the world began,
He never has done any good for himself, but was good to every man.
He never has done any good for himself, and I’m sure that he never will,
He drinks and he swears and he fights at times, and his name is mostly Bill.
He carried a freezing mate to his cave, and nursed him, for all I know,
When Europe was mostly a sheet of ice, thousands of years ago.
He has stuck to many a mate since then, he is with us everywhere still
(He loves and gambles when he is young, and the girls stick up for Bill.)
He has rowed to a wreck, when the lifeboat failed, with Jim in a crazy boat;
He has given his lifebelt many a time, and sunk that another might float.
He has ‘stood ’em off’ while others escaped, when the niggers rushed from the hill,
And rescue parties who came too late have found what was left of Bill.
He has thirsted on deserts that others might drink, he has given lest others should lack,
He has staggered half-blinded through fire or drought with a sick man on his back.
He is first to the rescue in tunnel or shaft, from Newcastle to Broken Hill,
When the water breaks in or the fire breaks out, Oh! a leader of men is Bill.
No humane societies’ medals he wears for the fearful deaths he braved;
He seems ashamed of the good he did, and ashamed of the lives he saved.
If you chance to know of a noble deed he has done, you had best keep still;
If you chance to know of a kindly act, you mustn’t let on to Bill.
He is fierce at a wrong, he is firm in right, he is kind to the weak and mild;
He will slave all day and sit up all night by the side of a neighbour’s child.
For a woman in trouble he’d lay down his life, nor think as another man will;
He’s a man all through, but no other man’s wife has ever been worse for Bill.
He is good for the noblest sacrifice, he can do what few other men can;
He can break his heart that the girl he loves may marry a better man.
There’s many a mother and wife to-night whose heart and whose eyes will fill
When she thinks of the days of the long ago when she well might have stuck to Bill.
Maybe he’s in trouble or hard up now, and travelling far for work,
Or fighting a dead past down to-night in a lone camp west of Bourke.
When he’s happy and flush, take your sorrow to him and borrow as much as you will;
But when he’s in trouble or stony-broke, you never will hear from Bill.
And when, because of its million sins, this earth is cracked like a shell,
He will stand by a mate at the Judgment Seat!—and comfort him down in—Well,
I haven’t much sentiment left, but let the cynic sneer as he will;
Perhaps God will fix up the world again for the sake of the likes of Bill.
Scheme | AABBCCBB DDBB EEBB FFBB GGBB AABB HHBB IIBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011111111110101 1101110110111111001 1101110110101111101 11011011110111101 11001011110111111 1101100111101101 11111001111111101 1101011110011111 11110110111100101 111011100101101011 111111100110101101 0101011111111111 11111011011111011011 1110110110111011111 1111010010111101101 10101010101110101111 101010010111010111 11011011100110111 111111010111111111 1111110101111111 1111011110111110101 11111011111011011 10100101111111101011 101111110111101111 111101010111111011 11111101111100101 11001001111101111 1111011010111111111 10101011110100111 1100111110011111 1110011110110111111 11101011011101111 0101111011111101 111101101010101101 1111001110101111 011111010110110111 |
Characters | 2,716 |
Words | 549 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 57 |
Words per line (avg) | 15 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 259 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 68 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:44 min read
- 76 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Bill of the Ages" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17953/the-bill-of-the-ages>.
Discuss this Henry Lawson poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In