Analysis of The Wild Kangaroo

Henry Kendall 1839 (Australia) – 1882 (Sydney)



The rain-clouds have gone to the deep -
The East like a furnace doth glow;
And the day-spring is flooding the steep,
And sheening the landscape below.
Oh, ye who are gifted with souls
That delight in the music of birds,
Come forth where the scattered mist rolls,
And listen to eloquent words!
Oh, ye who are fond of the sport,
And would travel yon wilderness through,
Gather - each to his place - for a life-stirring chase,
In the wake of the wild Kangaroo!
Gather - each to his place -
For a life-stirring chase
In the wake of the wild Kangaroo!

Beyond the wide rents of the fog,
The trees are illumined with gold;
And the bark of the shepherd's brave dog
Shoots away from the sheltering fold.
Down the depths of yon rock-border'd glade,
A torrent goes foaming along;
And the blind-owls retire into shade,
And the bell-bird beginneth its song.
By the side of that yawning abyss,
Where the vapours are hurrying to,
We will merrily pass, looking down to the grass
For the tracks of the wild Kangaroo!
We will merrily pass,
Looking down to the grass
For the tracks of the wild Kangaroo.

Ho, brothers, away to the woods;
Euroka hath clambered the hill;
But the morning there seldom intrudes,
Where the night-shadows slumber on still.
We will roam o'er these forest-lands wild,
And thread the dark masses of vines,
Where the winds, like the voice of a child,
Are singing aloft in the pines.
We must keep down the glee of our hounds;
We must ~steal~ through the glittering dew;
And the breezes shall sleep as we cautiously creep
To the haunts of the wild Kangaroo.
And the breezes shall sleep,
As we cautiously creep
To the haunts of the wild Kangaroo.

When we pass through a stillness like death
The swamp fowl and timorous quail,
Like the leaves in a hurricane's breath,
Will start from their nests in the vale;
And the forester,* snuffing the air,
Will bound from his covert so dark,
While we follow along in the rear,
As arrows speed on to their mark!
Then the swift hounds shall bring him to bay,
And we'll send forth a hearty halloo,
As we gather them all to be in at the fall -
At the death of the wild Kangaroo!
As we gather them all
To be in at the fall -
At the death of the wild Kangaroo!


Scheme ababcdcdxefEffE xgxghihixejEjjE xkxklmlmxeaEaaE nonoxpxpxbqEqqE
Poetic Form Tetractys  (23%)
Etheree  (23%)
Metre 01111101 01101011 001111001 010101 11111011 101001011 11101011 01011001 11111101 011011001 101111101101 00110101 101111 101101 00110101 01011101 01101011 001101011 101101001 101111101 01011001 001101011 0011111 101111001 10111001 111001101101 10110101 111001 101101 10110101 11001101 111001 101011001 10111011 1111011011 01011011 101101101 11001001 1111011101 111101001 001011111001 10110101 001011 111001 10110101 111101011 01101001 10100101 11111001 001001001 11111011 111001001 11011111 101111111 01110101 111011110101 10110101 111011 110101 10110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 2,143
Words 412
Sentences 16
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 15, 15, 15, 15
Lines Amount 60
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 427
Words per stanza (avg) 102
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:05 min read
91

Henry Kendall

Thomas Henry Kendall was a nineteenth-century Australian author and bush poet, who was particularly known for his poems and tales set in a natural environment setting. more…

All Henry Kendall poems | Henry Kendall Books

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