Analysis of Over The Range
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
Little bush maiden, wondering-eyed,
Playing alone in the creek-bed dry,
In the small green flat on every side
Walled in by the Moonbi ranges high;
Tell me the tale of your lonely life
'Mid the great grey forests that know no change.
"I never have left my home," she said,
"I have never been over the Moonbi Range.
"Father and mother are long since dead,
And I live with granny in yon wee place."
"Where are your father and mother?" I said.
She puzzled awhile with thoughtful face,
Then a light came into the shy brown face,
And she smiled, for she thought the question strange
On a thing so certain -- "When people die
They go to the country over the range."
"And what is this country like, my lass?"
"There are blossoming trees and pretty flowers
And shining creeks where the golden grass
Is fresh and sweet from the summer showers.
They never need work, nor want, nor weep;
No troubles can come their hearts to estrange.
Some summer night I shall fall asleep,
And wake in the country over the range."
Child, you are wise in your simple trust,
For the wisest man knows no more than you.
Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust:
Our views by a range are bounded too;
But we know that God hath this gift in store,
That, when we come to the final change,
We shall meet with our loved ones gone before
To the beautiful country over the range.
Scheme | ABABXCDCDEDEECBC FGFGHCHC IJIJKCKC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101101001 100100111 0011111001 10101101 110111101 1011101111 110111111 1110110011 100101111 0111100111 1111001011 110011101 1011010111 0111110101 1011101101 1110101001 011110111 11100101010 010110101 1101101010 110111111 1101111101 110111101 0100101001 111101101 1010111111 101100111 1011011101 1111111101 111110101 11111011101 10100101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,340 |
Words | 258 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 343 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 83 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 04, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 85 Views
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"Over The Range" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2574/over-the-range>.
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