Analysis of The Little Slit in the Tail

Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)



I’M GLAD that the Bushmen can’t see me now
A-doing it tall in the town;
I’ve an inch-brimmed hat on my sun-burnt brow—
And my collar jumps up and down.
I’m wearing a vest that would charm a snake,
And a tie like a lost soul’s wail;
And I’m dressed in a coat of the latest make,
With a little slit in the tail:
With a little slit in the tail of it,
With a little slit in the tail.

My pants alone are a thing of joy,
And they’re built to show my bends,
With a crease behind and a crease before,
And a little curl in the ends.
I carry my nose-rag in my cuff,
And the lot should get me gaol—
I paid five guineas for my rig-out,
And one for the slit in the tail:
For the little slit in the tail of it,
For the little slit in the tail.


Scheme ababcdcDeD xfxfxdxded
Poetic Form Etheree  (25%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1110101111 01011001 1111111111 01101101 1100111101 00110111 01100110101 10101001 1010100111 10101001 110110111 0111111 1010100101 00101001 110111011 0011111 111101111 01101001 1010100111 10101001
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 736
Words 157
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 10, 10
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 272
Words per stanza (avg) 78
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

47 sec read
68

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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