Analysis of The Peace Maker
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
It has a “point” of neither sex
But comes in guise of both,
And, doubly dangerous complex,
It is a thing to loathe—
A lady with her sweet, sad smile,
A gentleman on oath.
Strip off the mother-veil, and fur!
And signs of “quiet taste”.
The dead child’s locket take from her
(The dead man’s gift in haste)
And wash from every evil line
The layers of filling paste!
From “saddened eyes” the hell’s own glare!
From “sweet mouth” blasphemy!
Wrench out the gold-filled false teeth there
That twice mock honesty,
And leave the evil face awry
For married folk to see.
For foolish girl wives in despair,
For men’s and children’s sakes,
Let loose the glossed and padded hair
To writhe like scorching snakes!
And strip the barren body bare
To show what Satan makes.
Aye! I could take her by the throat
More sure than hangman’s noose,
And set my teeth and set my nails,
And hate would set my thews.
And fling her to the drought-starved swine,
Were all my brethren Jews.
There was the kindest man I knew,
Brave, handsome, straight and tall—
Between his loved ones and the world
He stood, a fortress wall.
He whines, a ruined drunkard now,
And this thing did it all.
There was the girl who married me
And bore my children twain,
We’ll never meet each other’s eyes
Like boy and girl again.
The very children’s love and trust
By this foul thing was slain.
There was a girl my manhood loved,
She’d Love’s own red gold hair,
And grey eyes that were Pity’s own
And courage that was rare.
She sleeps amongst the suicides,
And this thing sent her there.
And all because the town was dull
And goodness was too tame,
And people took no interest
In one they could not blame.
And all because my life was clean
And I had won a name.
And now, for years of senseless hate
And paltry, bitter strife,
For “reparation” come too late,
For sweetheart, mate and wife,
I tread her vile heart in the dust
And ashes of my life.
Scheme | ABAXXB CDCDED FGFGXG FHFHFH XXXAEX XIXIXI GJXXKJ XFXFXF XLKLXL MNMNKN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (32%) |
Metre | 11011101 110111 01010010 110111 01010111 010011 11010101 011101 01110110 011101 011100101 0101101 11010111 111100 11011111 111100 01010101 110111 11011001 110101 11010101 111101 01010101 111101 11110101 11111 01110111 011111 01010111 011101 11010111 110101 01111001 110101 11010101 011111 11011101 011101 11011101 110101 01010101 111111 1101111 111111 0111011 010111 1101010 011101 01010111 010111 0101110 011111 01011111 011101 01111101 010101 1010111 11101 11011001 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,887 |
Words | 354 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 146 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:46 min read
- 114 Views
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"The Peace Maker" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18066/the-peace-maker>.
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