Analysis of The Pride That Comes After

Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)



It knows it all, it knows it all,
The world of groans and laughter,
It sneers of pride before a fall,
But the bitter pride comes after:
So leave me and I’ll seek you not,
So seek me and you’ll find me—
But till I know your hand-grip’s true
I’ll stand with hands behind me.

It knows it all, it knows it all,
The world of lies and sorrow—
It prates of pride before a fall,
And of the humble morrow;
But shame and blame are but a name,
Oh, heart that’s hurt past curing!
We’ll drink to-night the sinner’s pride,
The pride that’s most enduring.

They know it all, they know it all,
The curs that pass the sentence.
They preach of pride before a fall
And bitter black repentance:
So leave me when my star is set,
I’ll glory that you leave me,
While one has pride to love me yet
There’s nought on earth shall grieve me.


Scheme Ababxcxc Adadxexe afafgcgc
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 0111010 11110101 10101110 11101111 1110111 11111111 1111011 11111111 0111010 11110101 0101010 11011101 1111110 11110101 0111010 11111111 0111010 11110101 0101010 11111111 1101111 11111111 1111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 823
Words 162
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 205
Words per stanza (avg) 53
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

48 sec read
99

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson 17 June 1867 - 2 September 1922 was an Australian writer and poet Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period more…

All Henry Lawson poems | Henry Lawson Books

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