Analysis of Black Bonnet
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
A day of seeming innocence,
A glorious sun and sky,
And, just above my picket fence,
Black Bonnet passing by.
In knitted gloves and quaint old dress,
Without a spot or smirch,
Her worn face lit with peacefulness,
Old Granny goes to church.
Her hair is richly white, like milk,
That long ago was fair --
And glossy still the old black silk
She keeps for "chapel wear";
Her bonnet, of a bygone style,
That long has passed away,
She must have kept a weary while
Just as it is to-day.
The parasol of days gone by --
Old days that seemed the best --
The hymn and prayer books carried high
Against her warm, thin breast;
As she had clasped -- come smiles come tears,
Come hardship, aye, and worse --
On market days, through faded years,
The slender household purse.
Although the road is rough and steep,
She takes it with a will,
For, since she hushed her first to sleep
Her way has been uphill.
Instinctively I bare my head
(A sinful one, alas!)
Whene'er I see, by church bells led,
Brave Old Black Bonnet pass.
For she has known the cold and heat
And dangers of the Track:
Has fought bush-fires to save the wheat
And little home Out Back.
By barren creeks the Bushman loves,
By stockyard, hut, and pen,
The withered hands in those old gloves
Have done the work of men.
They called it "Service" long ago
When Granny yet was young,
And in the chapel, sweet and low,
As girls her daughters sung.
And when in church she bends her head
(But not as others do)
She sees her loved ones, and her dead
And hears their voices too.
Fair as the Saxons in her youth,
Not forward, and not shy;
And strong in healthy life and truth
As after years went by:
She often laughed with sinners vain,
Yet passed from faith to sight --
God gave her beauty back again
The more her hair grew white.
She came out in the Early Days,
(Green seas, and blue -- and grey) --
The village fair, and English ways,
Seemed worlds and worlds away.
She fought the haunting loneliness
Where brooding gum trees stood;
And won through sickness and distress
As Englishwomen could.
By verdant swath and ivied wall
The congregation's seen --
White nothings where the shadows fall,
Black blots against the green.
The dull, suburban people meet
And buzz in little groups,
While down the white steps to the street
A quaint old figure stoops.
And then along my picket fence
Where staring wallflowers grow --
World-wise Old Age, and Common-sense! --
Black Bonnet, nodding slow.
But not alone; for on each side
A little dot attends
In snowy frock and sash of pride,
And these are Granny's friends.
To them her mind is clear and bright,
Her old ideas are new;
They know her "real talk" is right,
Her "fairy talk" is true.
And they converse as grown-ups may,
When all the news is told;
The one so wisely young to-day,
The two so wisely old.
At home, with dinner waiting there,
She smooths her hair and face,
And puts her bonnet by with care
And dons a cap of lace.
The table minds its p's and q's
Lest one perchance be hit
By some rare dart which is a part
Of her old-fashioned wit.
Her son and son's wife are asleep,
She puts her apron on --
The quiet house is hers to keep,
With all the youngsters gone.
There's scarce a sound of dish on dish
Or cup slipped into cup,
When left alone, as is her wish,
Black Bonnet "washes up."
Scheme | XABACDED FGFGHIHI AJAJXKXK LMLMNONO PQPQRSRS TUTUNVNV WAWAXXSX YIYIEZCZ 1 2 1 2 P3 P3 BTBT4 5 4 5 XVXVI6 I6 G7 G7 X8 X8 LXLXD9 D9 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110100 0100101 01011101 110101 01010111 010111 01111100 110111 01110111 110111 01010111 111101 0101011 111101 11110101 111111 011111 111101 01011101 010111 11111111 110101 11011101 01011 1011101 111101 11110111 011111 01001111 010101 1111111 111101 11110101 010101 111101101 010111 11010101 11101 01010111 110111 11110101 110111 00010101 110101 01011101 111101 11011001 011101 11010001 110011 01010101 110111 11011101 111111 11010101 010111 11100101 110101 01010101 110101 11010100 110111 01110001 111 1101011 00101 1101011 110101 01010101 010101 11011101 011101 01011101 11011 11110101 110101 11011111 010101 01010111 01111 11011101 0101011 1101111 010111 01101111 110111 01110111 011101 11110101 110101 01010111 010111 01011101 110111 11111101 101101 01011101 110101 01011011 110101 11011111 111011 11011101 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 3,296 |
Words | 619 |
Sentences | 29 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 104 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 193 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 47 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 3:07 min read
- 88 Views
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"Black Bonnet" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17751/black-bonnet>.
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