Analysis of Australian Spring

Hugh McCrae 1876 (Melbourne) – 1958



The bleak faced  Winter, with his braggart winds
(Coiled to his scrawny throat in tattered black),
Posts down the highway of his late domain,
His spurs like leeches in his bleeding hack.

He rides to reach the huge embattled hills
Where all the brooding summer he may lie
Engulfed in Kosciusko’s silent snow,
His shadow waving o’er the lofty sky.

And jolly Spring, with love and laughter gay
Full fountaining, lets loose her tide of bees
Upon the waking ember-flame of bloom
New kindled in the honey-scented trees.

The old, old man forsakes the chimney-hole,
Where erst he warmed his bones and lazy blood,
And, clasping Molly to his wheezing breast,
Triumphant floats, cock-whoop, upon the flood.   


Scheme XAXA XBXB XCXC XDXD
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 011101111 1111010101 110111101 1111001101 1111010101 1101010111 0101101 111010101 0101110101 11110111 0101010111 1100010101 011110101 1111110101 011011101 0101110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 710
Words 119
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 138
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
49

Hugh McCrae

Hugh Raymond McCrae was an Australian writer. more…

All Hugh McCrae poems | Hugh McCrae Books

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    What animal did Robert Burns call "Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie"?
    A Mouse
    B Sparrow
    C Mole
    D Spider