Analysis of In The Day's When We Are Dead
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
Listen! The end draws nearer,
Nearer the morning—or night—
And I see with a vision clearer
That the beginning was right!
These shall be words to remember
When all has been done and said,
And my fame is a dying ember
In the days when I am dead.
Listen! We wrote in sorrow,
And we wrote by candle light;
We took no heed of the morrow,
And I think that we were right—
(To-morrow, but not the day after,
And I think that we were right).
We wrote of a world that was human
And we wrote of blood that was red,
For a child, or a man, or a woman—
Remember when we are dead.
Listen! We wrote not for money,
And listen! We wrote not for fame—
We wrote for the milk and the honey
Of Kindness, and not for a name.
We paused not, nor faltered for any,
Though many fell back where we led;
We wrote of the few for the many—
Remember when we are dead.
We suffered as few men suffer,
Yet laughed as few men laugh;
We grin as the road grows rougher,
And a bitterer cup we quaff.
We lived for Right and for Laughter,
And we fought for a Nation ahead—
Remember it, friends, hereafter,
In the years when I am dead—
For to-morrow and not the day after,
For ourselves, and a Nation ahead.
Scheme | ababacacdbdBaB eceC fgfg fcfC ahah acacac |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1001110 1001011 011101010 1001011 11111010 1111101 011101010 0011111 1011010 0111101 11111010 0111101 110110110 0111101 111011110 01111111 1011011010 0101111 10111110 01011111 111010010 11001101 111110110 11011111 111011010 0101111 11011110 111111 11101110 001111 11110110 011101001 01011010 0011111 1110010110 1001001001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,160 |
Words | 236 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 4, 4, 4, 4, 6 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 147 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 71 Views
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"In The Day's When We Are Dead" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17823/in-the-day%27s-when-we-are-dead>.
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