Analysis of Corny Bill
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
His old clay pipe stuck in his mouth,
His hat pushed from his brow,
His dress best fitted for the South --
I think I see him now;
And when the city streets are still,
And sleep upon me comes,
I often dream that me an' Bill
Are humpin' of our drums.
I mind the time when first I came
A stranger to the land;
And I was stumped, an' sick, an' lame
When Bill took me in hand.
Old Bill was what a chap would call
A friend in poverty,
And he was very kind to all,
And very good to me.
We'd camp beneath the lonely trees
And sit beside the blaze,
A-nursin' of our wearied knees,
A-smokin' of our clays.
Or when we'd journeyed damp an' far,
An' clouds were in the skies,
We'd camp in some old shanty bar,
And sit a-tellin' lies.
Though time had writ upon his brow
And rubbed away his curls,
He always was -- an' may be now --
A favourite with the girls;
I've heard bush-wimmin scream an' squall --
I've see'd 'em laugh until
They could not do their work at all,
Because of Corny Bill.
He was the jolliest old pup
As ever you did see,
And often at some bush kick-up
They'd make old Bill M.C.
He'd make them dance and sing all night,
He'd make the music hum,
But he'd be gone at mornin' light
A-humpin' of his drum.
Though joys of which the poet rhymes
Was not for Bill an' me,
I think we had some good old times
Out on the wallaby.
I took a wife and left off rum,
An' camped beneath a roof;
But Bill preferred to hump his drum
A-paddin' of the hoof.
The lazy, idle loafers what
In toney houses camp
Would call old Bill a drunken sot,
A loafer, or a tramp;
But if the dead should ever dance --
As poets say they will --
I think I'd rather take my chance
Along of Corny Bill.
His long life's-day is nearly o'er,
Its shades begin to fall;
He soon must mount his bluey for
The last long tramp of all;
I trust that when, in bush an' town,
He's lived and learnt his fill,
They'll let the golden slip-rails down
For poor old Corny Bill.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IJIJKLKL BMBMGCGC NHNXOPOP QHQHPRPR XSXSTCTC XGXGUCUC |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111011 111111 11110101 111111 01010111 010111 11011111 111101 11011111 010101 01111111 111101 11110111 010100 01110111 010111 11010101 010101 01110101 011101 11110111 110001 11011101 01011 11110111 010111 1111111 01101 1111111 111101 11111111 011101 11010011 110111 01011111 11110 11110111 110101 1111111 01111 11110101 111111 11111111 110100 11010111 110101 11011111 01101 01010101 010101 11110101 010101 11011101 110111 11110111 011101 111111010 110111 11111101 011111 11110111 110111 11010111 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,967 |
Words | 390 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 179 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:01 min read
- 44 Views
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"Corny Bill" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17774/corny-bill>.
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