The Poor, Poor Country
John Shaw Neilson 1872 (Penola, South Australia) – 1942 (Melbourne, Victoria)
Oh 'twas a poor country, in Autumn it was bare,
The only green was the cutting grass and the sheep found little there.
Oh, the thin wheat and the brown oats were never two foot high,
But down in the poor country no pauper was I.
My wealth it was the glow that lives forever in the young,
'Twas on the brown water, in the green leaves it hung.
The blue cranes fed their young all day - how far in a tall tree!
And the poor, poor country made no pauper of me.
I waded out to the swan's nest - at night I heard them sing,
I stood amazed at the Pelican, and crowned him for a king;
I saw the black duck in the reeds, and the spoonbill on the sky,
And in that poor country no pauper was I.
The mountain-ducks down in the dark made many a hollow sound,
I saw in sleep the Bunyip creep from the waters underground.
I found the plovers' island home, and they fought right valiantly,
Poor was the country, but it made no pauper of me.
My riches all went into dreams that never yet came home,
They touched upon the wild cherries and the slabs of honeycomb,
They were not of the desolate brood that men can sell or buy,
Down in that poor country no pauper was I.
* * * * *
The New Year came with heat and thirst and the little lakes were low,
The blue cranes were my nearest friends and I mourned to see them go;
I watched their wings so long until I only saw the sky,
Down in that poor country no pauper was I.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:26 min read
- 60 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | aabb ccdd eebb ffdd ggbB hhbB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,434 |
Words | 287 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 4 |
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"The Poor, Poor Country" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/24090/the-poor,-poor-country>.
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