Analysis of A National Song For Australia Felix
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
Dark over the face of Nature sublime!
Reign'd tyranny, warfare, and every crime;
The world a desert—no oasis green
A man-loving soul on its surface had seen;
Then mercy above a mandate sent forth
An Eden to form—a refuge for worth.
From the ocean it came, with halo so bright,
Want, strife, and oppression were lost in its sight.
Chorus
First isle of the sea—brightest gem of the earth
In thee every virtue and joy shall have birth.
A land of the just, the brave, and the free,
Australia the happy, thou ever shalt be.
So earth in the flood no place for rest gave,
At length a green isle arose from the wave;
The dove o'er the waters the olive branch bore,
To show that one spot was cover'd no more;
Australia thus shall be sounded by fame,
And Europe shall echo the glorious name;
The brave, wise, and good, wherever oppress'd,
Shall fly to thy shores as a haven of rest.
Chorus: First isle of the sea, &c.
Land of the orange, fig, olive, and vine;
'Midst earth's fairest daughters the chaplet is thine;
No sick'ning vapours are borne on thy air,
But fragrance and melody twine sweetly there;
Thy ever-green fields proclaim plenty and peace,
If man doth his part, heaven sends the increase;
No customs to fetter, no enemy near,
Independence thy sons for ever must cheer.
Scheme | AABBXCDD XCCEE FFGG HHII E JJKKLLMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (23%) |
Metre | 1100111001 1100101001 0101010101 01101111011 110010111 1101101011 10101111011 11001001011 10 11101101101 011001001111 0110101001 01001011011 1100111111 1101101101 011001001011 1111111011 0101111011 01011001001 0110101001 11111101011 10111011 1101011001 1110100111 111111111 11001001101 11011011001 11111101001 11011011001 0101111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,300 |
Words | 233 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 5, 4, 4, 1, 8 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 164 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:11 min read
- 59 Views
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"A National Song For Australia Felix" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2471/a-national-song-for-australia-felix>.
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