Analysis of The Flying Gang
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
I served my time, in the days gone by,
In the railway's clash and clang,
And I worked my way to the end, and I
Was the head of the "Flying Gang".
'Twas a chosen band that was kept at hand
In case of an urgent need;
Was it south or north, we were started forth
And away at our utmost speed.
If word reached town that a bridge was down,
The imperious summons rang --
"Come out with the pilot engine sharp,
And away with the flying gang."
Then a piercing scream and a rush of steam
As the engine moved ahead;
With measured beat by the slum and street
Of the busy town we fled,
By the uplands bright and the homesteads white,
With the rush of the western gale --
And the pilot swayed with the pace we made
As she rocked on the ringing rail.
And the country children clapped their hands
As the engine's echoes rang,
But their elders said: "There is work ahead
When they send for the flying gang."
Then across the miles of the saltbush plain
That gleamed with the morning dew,
Where the grasses waved like the ripening grain
The pilot engine flew --
A fiery rush in the open bush
Where the grade marks seemed to fly,
And the order sped on the wires ahead,
The pilot must go by.
The Governor's special must stand aside,
And the fast express go hang;
Let your orders be that the line is free
For the boys in the flying gang.
Scheme | ABABXCXCXBXBXDXDXEXEXBDB FGFGXADAXBXB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111100111 001101 0111110101 10110101 1010111111 0111101 1111110101 00111011 111110111 00100101 111010101 00110101 1010100111 1010101 110110101 1010111 101010011 10110101 0010110111 11110101 001010111 1010101 1110111101 11110101 101011011 1110101 10101101001 010101 0100100101 1011111 00101101001 010111 0100101101 0010111 1110110111 10100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,324 |
Words | 262 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 24, 12 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 509 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 129 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 120 Views
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"The Flying Gang" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2643/the-flying-gang>.
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