Analysis of Bold Jack Donahoo

Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)



In Dublin town I was brought up, in that city of great fame
My decent friends and parents, they will tell to you the same.
It was for the sake of five hundred pounds I was sent across the main,
For seven long years, in New South Wales, to wear a convict's chain
Then come, my hearties, we'll roam the mountains high!
Together we will plunder, together we will die!
We'll wander over    mountains and we'll gallop over plains
For we scorn to live in slavery, bound down in iron chains.
I'd scarce been there twelve months or more upon the Australian shore,
When I took to the highway, as I'd oft-times done before.
There was me and Jacky Underwood, and Webber and Webster, too.
These were the true associates of bold Jack Donahoo.

Now, Donahoo was taken, all for a notorious crime,
And sentenced to be hanged upon the gallows-tree so high.
But when they came to Sydney gaol, he left them in a stew,
And when they came to call the roll, they missed bold Donahoo.

As Donahoo made his escape, to the bush he went straight- way.
The people they were all afraid to travel night or day
For every week in the newspapers there was published some-thing new
Concerning this dauntless hero, the bold Jack Donahoo!

As Donahoo was cruising, one summer's afternoon,
little was his notion his death was near so soon,
When a sergeant of the horse police discharged his car-a-bine,
And called aloud on Donahoo to fight or to resign.

"Resign to you—you cowardly dogs! a thing I ne'er will do,
For I'll fight this night with all my might," cried bold Jack Donahoo.
"I'd rather roam these hills and dales, like wolf or kangaroo,
Than work one hour for Government!" cried bold Jack Donahoo.

He fought six rounds with the horse police until the fatal ball,
Which pierced his heart and made him start, caused Donahoo to fall.
And as he closed his mournful eyes, he bade this world Adieu,
Saying, "Convicts all, both large and small, say prayers for Donahoo!"


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFF XCFF GGFF HHBX FFFF IIFF
Poetic Form
Metre 010111110110111 11010101111101 11101111011110101 11011011111011 1111110101 0101110010111 11010100110101 111110100110101 111111110100101 1111011111101 111010100100101 1001010011110 11011011001001 01011101010111 11111101111001 0111110111110 11011011011111 01010101110111 1100100101110111 010111001110 11011011001 101110111111 101010101011101 0101110111101 011111001011111 11111111111110 1101110111101 11110110011110 111110101010101 1111011111011 01111101111101 10101110111110
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 1,913
Words 354
Sentences 19
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 12, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 47
Words per line (avg) 11
Letters per stanza (avg) 251
Words per stanza (avg) 59
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:48 min read
94

Andrew Barton Paterson

Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales, where he spent much of his childhood. Paterson's more notable poems include "Clancy of the Overflow" (1889), "The Man from Snowy River" (1890) and "Waltzing Matilda" (1895), regarded widely as Australia's unofficial national anthem. more…

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