Analysis of Bound for Sourabaya!
Charles Henry Souter 1864 – 1944
OH, the moon shines bright, and we sail to-night,
And we’re bound for Sourabaya!
So it’s ‘Farewell, Jane!’ for we’re off again
With the turning of the tide!
Oh, the Java girls haven’t got no curls,
But they’ll meet us on the Praya,
And, Malay or Dutch, well, the odds ain’t much,
And the ocean’s deep and wide!
We’re bound for Sourabaya, boys,
Where the girls are kind and brown!
By the break of day we’ll be far away!
Farewell to Sydney town!
Oh, the girls look glum, when the parting’s come,
And we’re bound for Sourabaya!
And they weep and wail, cos’ the ship must sail
With the turning of the tide!
But we soon forget, when our sheets are wet
And the dancing dolphins play—ah,
And the gale pipes high in the mackerel sky,
And the ocean’s deep and wide!
We’re bound for Sourabaya, boys,
Where the girls are kind and brown,
And they hope and pray that we’ve come to stay!
Farewell to Sydney town!
When the coin’s all gone, and the hatches on,
And we’re bound for Sourabaya,
There’s a kiss for Nell, and a long farewell,
With the turning of the tide!
But there’s not much wrong, and it don’t last long,
Tho’ she mourns you for a day—ah!
And she wears no black if you don’t come back!
For the ocean’s deep and wide!
And we’re bound for Sourabaya, boys,
Where the girls are kind and brown,
So we’ll drink once more,
While we’re on the shore,
Farewell to Sydney town!
Scheme | xAxBxaxB CDeD xAxBxfxB CDeD xAxBxfxb cDggD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011101111 00111 111110101 1010101 101011111 1111101 0101110111 0010101 01111 1011101 1011111101 11101 101111011 00111 0110110111 1010101 11101110111 00101011 00111001001 0010101 01111 1011101 0110111111 11101 1011100101 00111 101110011 1010101 1111101111 11111011 0111111111 1010101 001111 1011101 11111 10101 11101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,592 |
Words | 260 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 5 |
Lines Amount | 37 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 171 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 62 Views
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"Bound for Sourabaya!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5226/bound-for-sourabaya%21>.
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