Analysis of Sez You
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
When the heavy sand is yielding backward from your blistered feet,
And across the distant timber you can SEE the flowing heat;
When your head is hot and aching, and the shadeless plain is wide,
And it's fifteen miles to water in the scrub the other side --
Don't give up, don't be down-hearted, to a man's strong heart be true!
Take the air in through your nostrils, set your lips and see it through --
For it can't go on for ever, and -- `I'll have my day!' says you.
When you're camping in the mulga, and the rain is falling slow,
While you nurse your rheumatism 'neath a patch of calico;
Short of tucker or tobacco, short of sugar or of tea,
And the scrubs are dark and dismal, and the plains are like a sea;
Don't give up and be down-hearted -- to the soul of man be true!
Grin! if you've a mate to grin for, grin and jest and don't look blue;
For it can't go on for ever, and -- `I'll rise some day,' says you.
When you've tramped the Sydney pavements till you've counted all the flags,
And your flapping boot-soles trip you, and your clothes are mostly rags,
When you're called a city loafer, shunned, abused, moved on, despised --
Fifty hungry beggars after every job that's advertised --
Don't be beaten! Hold your head up! To your wretched self be true;
Set your pride to fight your hunger! Be a MAN in all you do!
For it cannot last for ever -- `I will rise again!' says you.
When you're dossing out in winter, in the darkness and the rain,
Crouching, cramped, and cold and hungry 'neath a seat in The Domain,
And a cloaked policeman stirs you with that mighty foot of his --
`Phwat d'ye mane? Phwat's this?
Who are ye? Come, move on -- git out av this!'
Don't get mad; 'twere only foolish; there is nought that you can do,
Save to mark his beat and time him -- find another hole or two;
But it can't go on for ever -- `I'll have money yet!' says you.
Bother not about the morrow, for sufficient to the day
Is the evil (rather more so). Put your trust in God and pray!
Study well the ant, thou sluggard. Blessed are the meek and low.
Ponder calmly on the lilies -- how they idle, how they grow.
A man's a man! Obey your masters! Do not blame the proud and fat,
For the poor are always with them, and they cannot alter that.
Lay your treasures up in Heaven -- cling to life and see it through!
For it cannot last for ever -- `I shall die some day,' says you.
Scheme | AABBCCC DDEECCC FFGGCCC HHXIICCC JJDDKKCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101011101011101 001010101110101 11111010001111 010111100010101 111111101011111 101011101110111 111111100111111 11100010011101 1111100101110 11101011110111 001110100011101 111011101011111 111011111010111 111111100111111 111010101110101 011011110111101 111010101011101 101010101001110 111011111110111 111111101010111 111011101110111 11110100010001 101010101010001 001010111110111 111111 1111111111 111110101111111 111110111010111 111111101110111 101010101010101 101010111110101 1010111110101 101010101110111 0101011101110101 10111110110101 111010101110111 111011101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 2,385 |
Words | 470 |
Sentences | 29 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 37 |
Letters per line (avg) | 48 |
Words per line (avg) | 13 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 353 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 94 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:26 min read
- 86 Views
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"Sez You" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17912/sez-you>.
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