Analysis of The Imported Servant
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
The Blue Sky arches o’er mountain and valley,
The scene is as fair as a scene can be,
But I’m breaking my heart for a London alley,
And fogs that shall never come back to me.
I choke with tears when the day is dying—
The sunsets grand and the stars are bright;
But it’s O! for the smell of the fried fish frying
By the flaring stalls on a Saturday night.
And this, oh, this is the lonely sequel
Of all I pictured would come to pass!
They are treating me here as a friend and equal,
But they’d say in London that they’re no class.
When I think of their kindness my tears flow faster—
The girls are free and the chaps are grand:
It’s “the boss” and “the missus” for mistress and master,
And they may be right—But I don’t understand.
I see the air in its warm pulsation
On sandstone cliffs where the ocean dips,
But I’m miles and miles from the railway station
Where trains run down to the wharves and ships.
Those streets are dingy and dark and narrow,
The soot comes down with the rain and sleet;
But, O! for the sight of a coster’s barrow,
And Sunday morning in Chapel Street!
Scheme | AAAABCBCDEDEFGFG HIHIJKJK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110110010 0111110111 111011101010 0111101111 1111101110 01100111 111101101110 10101101001 0111101010 111101111 111011101010 1110101111 111111011110 011100111 1010010110010 0111111101 11010111 11110101 1110110110 111110101 1111001010 011110101 1110110110 01100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,095 |
Words | 211 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 415 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 105 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 56 Views
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"The Imported Servant" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18016/the-imported-servant>.
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