Analysis of The Scots [A Dirge]

Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)



Black Scots and red Scots,
Red Scots and black;
I hae dealt wi’ the red Scot,
An’ dealt wi’ the black.
The Red Scot is angry
Among the sons o’ men—
He’ll pay you a bawbee,
An’ steal it back again.

Black Scots and red Scots,
Red Scots and black;
I hae dealt wi’ the red Scot,
An’ dealt wi’ the black.

The Black Scot is frien’ly—
A brither an’ a’—
He’ll pay you a bawbee,
An’ steal back twa.

The Ginger Scot o’ a’ Scots,
The warst shade o’ Scot,
For he’ll pay ye naething,
An’ tak’ a’ you’ve got.

Black Scots and red Scots,
Short Scots an’ lang,
Ginger Scots an’ bald Scots—
I dealt wi’ the gang.


Scheme ABCBxdEd ABCB xxEx acbc Afaf
Poetic Form
Metre 11011 1101 1111011 11101 011110 010111 11101 111101 11011 1101 1111011 11101 01111 0110 11101 1111 0101101 01111 11111 11011 11011 1111 101111 11101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 642
Words 122
Sentences 7
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 8, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 18
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 85
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
74

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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