Analysis of The Federal Bus Conductor and the Old Lady
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
Now 'urry, Mrs New South Wales, and come along of us,
We're all a-goin' ridin' in the Federation 'bus.
A fam'ly party, don't you know -- yes, Queenslans's comin', too,
You can't afford it! Go along! We've kep' box seat for you.
The very one of all the lot that can afford it best,
You'll only have to pay your share the same as all the rest.
You say your sons is workin' men, and can't afford to ride!
Well, all our sons is workin' men, a-smokin' up outside.
You think you might be drove to smash by some unskilful bloke!
Well, ain't we all got necks ourselves? And we don't want 'em broke.
You bet your lofe we're not such fools but what we'll do our best
To keep from harm -- for harm to one is harm to all the rest.
Now, don't go trudgin' on alone, but get aboard the trap;
That basket, labelled "Capital", you take it in your lap!
It's nearly time we made a start, so let's 'ave no more talk:
You 'urry up and get aboard, or else stop out and walk.
We've got a flag; we've got a band; out 'orses travels fast;
Ho! Right away, Bill! Let 'em go! The old 'un's come at last!
Scheme | AABBCCDDEECC FFGGHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110111010111 11011000101 01101111111 11011101111111 01011101110111 11011111011101 1111111010111 1110111101111 111111111111 111111001011111 111111111111101 11111111111101 1111101110101 11010100111011 11011101111111 1110101111101 1101110111101 11011111011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,083 |
Words | 216 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 6 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 43 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 390 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 107 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 118 Views
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"The Federal Bus Conductor and the Old Lady" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2640/the-federal-bus-conductor-and-the-old-lady>.
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