Analysis of The Free-Selector's Daughter
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
I met her on the Lachlan Side --
A darling girl I thought her,
And ere I left I swore I'd win
The free-selector's daughter.
I milked her father's cows a month,
I brought the wood and water,
I mended all the broken fence,
Before I won the daughter.
I listened to her father's yarns,
I did just what I `oughter',
And what you'll have to do to win
A free-selector's daughter.
I broke my pipe and burnt my twist,
And washed my mouth with water;
I had a shave before I kissed
The free-selector's daughter.
Then, rising in the frosty morn,
I brought the cows for Mary,
And when I'd milked a bucketful
I took it to the dairy.
I poured the milk into the dish
While Mary held the strainer,
I summoned heart to speak my wish,
And, oh! her blush grew plainer.
I told her I must leave the place,
I said that I would miss her;
At first she turned away her face,
And then she let me kiss her.
I put the bucket on the ground,
And in my arms I caught her:
I'd give the world to hold again
That free-selector's daughter!
Scheme | xabA xaxa xaba cacA xdxd eaea fafa xaxa |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11010101 0101110 01111111 01110 11010101 1101010 11010101 0111010 11010101 111111 01111111 01110 11110111 0111110 11010111 01110 11000101 1101110 011101 1111010 11010101 110101 11011111 0101110 11011101 1111110 11110101 0111110 11010101 0011110 11011101 11110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,034 |
Words | 200 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 18, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 128 Views
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"The Free-Selector's Daughter" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17999/the-free-selector%27s-daughter>.
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