Analysis of The Paroo
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
It was a week from Christmas-time,
As near as I remember,
And half a year since, in the rear,
We'd left the Darling timber.
The track was hot and more than drear;
The day dragged out for ever;
But now we knew that we were near
Our camp - the Paroo River.
With blighted eyes and blistered feet,
With stomachs out of order,
Half-mad with flies and dust and heat
We'd crossed the Queensland border.
I longed to hear a stream go by
And see the circles quiver;
I longed to lay me down and die
That night on Paroo River.
The "nose-bags" heavy on each chest
(God bless one kindly squatter!),
With grateful weight our hearts they pressed -
We only wanted water.
The sun was setting in a spray
Of colour like a liver -
We'd fondly hoped to camp and stay
That night by Paroo River.
A cloud was on my mate's broad brow,
And once I heard him mutter:
'What price the good old Darling now? -
God bless that grand old gutter!"
And then he stopped and slowly said
In tones that made me shiver:
"It cannot well be on ahead -
I think we've crossed the river."
But soon we saw a strip of ground
Beside the track we followed,
No damper than the surface round,
But just a little hollowed.
His brow assumed a thoughtful frown -
This speech did he deliver:
"I wonder if we'd best go down
Or up the blessed river?"
"But where," said I, " 's the blooming stream?'
And he replied, 'we're at it!"
I stood awhile, as in a dream,
"Great Scott!" I cried, "is that it?
Why, that is some old bridle-track!"
He chuckled, "Well, I never!
It's plain you've never been Out Back -
This is the Paroo River!"
Scheme | XABAAABACACADADA EAEAFAFAGAGAHAHAIJIJKAKA LMLMNANA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011101 1111010 01011001 1101010 01110111 0111110 11111101 1010110 11010101 1101110 11110101 110110 11110111 0101010 11111101 111110 01110111 1111010 110110111 1101010 01110001 111010 11011101 111110 01111111 0111110 11011101 1111110 01110101 0111110 11011101 1111010 11110111 0101110 11010101 1101010 11010101 1111010 11011111 110110 111110101 0101111 11011001 1111111 11111101 1101110 11110111 110110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,578 |
Words | 316 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 24, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 393 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 101 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 121 Views
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"The Paroo" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18061/the-paroo>.
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