Analysis of The Way of the World
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
When fairer faces turn from me,
And gayer friends grow cold,
And I have lost through poverty
The friendship bought with gold;
When I have served the selfish turn
Of some all-worldly few,
And Folly’s lamps have ceased to burn,
Then I’ll come back to you.
When my admirers find I’m not
The rising star they thought,
And praise or blame is all forgot
My early promise brought;
When brighter rivals lead a host
Where once I led a few,
And kinder times reward their boast,
Then I’ll come back to you.
You loved me, not for what I had
Or what I might have been,
You saw the good, but not the bad,
Was kind, for that between.
I know that you’ll forgive again—
That you will judge me true;
I’ll be too tired to explain
When I come back to you.
Scheme | ababcdcDefefgdgD hxhxxdxd |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010111 010111 01111100 010111 11110101 111101 0111111 111111 11010111 010111 01111101 110101 11010101 111101 01010111 111111 11111111 111111 11011101 111101 11110101 111111 11110101 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 736 |
Words | 145 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 283 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 72 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 55 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Way of the World" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18141/the-way-of-the-world>.
Discuss this Henry Lawson poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In