Analysis of The Separated Women
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
THE Separated Women
Go lying through the land,
For they have plenty dresses,
And money, too, in hand;
They married brutes and drunkards
And blackguards “frightful low”,
But why are they so eager
For all the world to know?
The shamed and ill-used woman
Who really longs to die,
She slaves at home in silence
And hides her poor black eye!
She lives a life of terror
Eased off at times in woe—
But why is she so frightened
That any one might know?
The Separated Woman
She rushes to the court,
Sad, shabby and pathetic,
Or flaunting or distraught;
The real wronged wife would rather
Lose both eyes and her hair—
She swears a lie to save him
When he is taken there.
The Separated Woman
She mostly goes the same,
Bag-woman, sham-nurse, “pretty”,
Or on her husband’s name;
The real loafed-on woman,
With courage almost grim,
“Goes out” and takes in washing
To keep the kids—and him.
The Separated Woman—
I knew her course so well:
“The Stage”, then first-class barmaid,
Then third-class bar—and hell:
And “hell” means all things vicious
That prey upon the town
(She wishes her poor husband
Had sometimes knocked her down).
Masseur and manicurist,
Or anything by chance,
They vilify their husbands—
And draw the maintenance.
Sham artists, “music teachers”—
Oh! they are flinty nuts!
Their friends are man-shaped crawlers
And lower than the dust.
The separated “Monsters”
Are missing from the tale—
They seem to have cleared out—or,
Perhaps they are in gaol.
The separated husband
Is heard of here and there,
A mild and decent citizen
And mostly bowed with care.
The Separated Women,
When upset in the track,
Are often very eager
To take the “Monster” back.
They’ve moved all hell to crush him
And, startled, find too late
The Monster’s grown content with
The separated state.
Scheme | Abcbxded afgfedhd Axxxeiji Akxkajxj Alblxmhm xxxgnxcx nxxdhiai Aoeojpxp |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010010 110101 1111010 010101 1101010 01101 1111110 110111 0101110 110111 1111010 010111 1101110 111101 1111110 110111 010010 110101 1100010 110101 0111110 111001 1101111 111101 010010 110101 1101110 110101 011110 11011 1101010 110101 010010 110111 011111 111101 0111110 110101 1100110 101101 10100 11011 110110 010100 1101010 111101 111111 010101 010010 110101 1111111 011101 010010 111101 01010100 010111 010010 101001 1101010 110101 1111111 010111 0101101 01001 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,768 |
Words | 309 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 172 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 21, 2023
- 1:32 min read
- 66 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Separated Women" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18086/the-separated-women>.
Discuss this Henry Lawson poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In