Analysis of A Departing Dirge
Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant 1864 (Bridgwater, Somerset) – 1902 (Pretoria)
Girls in town and boys out back,
I've rolled up my little pack,
And on june's chill wintry gales
Sail from pleasant New South Wales.
Ere I go - a doggerel song
To bid the whole caboose 'So-long!'
Saddle-gear and horses sold -
Fetched but scanty stock of gold -
Scanty!! yet the whole lot
Publicans and Flossies got.
Since I in this country landed
Ne'er before was I so 'stranded'.
Now I'm leaving Sydney's shore
Harder up than e'er before;
A keen appetite I feel
To taste a bit o' British veal;
And let's trust, across the foam
They have a fatted calf at home.
From duns and debts (once safe on board)
Pray deliver me, oh Lord!
Here's the burden of my song:
'Good-bye, old girl! Old chap, So-long!'
Hardest loss of all I find
To leave the good old horse behind.
So-long, 'Cavalier!'
Scheme | AABBCC DDEEFF GGHHII JJCCKKX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010111 1111101 0111101 1110111 11101001 11010111 1010101 1110111 101011 1011 11011010 10111110 1110101 10111001 011011 11011101 0110101 1101111 11011111 1010111 1010111 11111111 1011111 11011101 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 767 |
Words | 151 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 7 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 147 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 29, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 68 Views
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