Analysis of Written Afterwards
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
So the days of my tramping are over,
And the days of my riding are done—
I’m about as content as a rover
Will ever be under the sun;
I write, after reading your letter—
My pipe with old memories rife—
And I feel in a mood that had better
Not meet the true eyes of the wife.
You must never admit a suggestion
That old things are good to recall;
You must never consider the question:
‘Was I happier then, after all?’
You must banish the old hope and sorrow
That make the sad pleasures of life,
You must live for To-day and To-morrow
If you want to be just to the wife.
I have changed since the first day I kissed her.
Which is due—Heaven bless her!—to her;
I’m respected and trusted—I’m ‘Mister,’
Addressed by the children as ‘Sir.’
And I feel the respect without feigning—
But you’d laugh the great laugh of your life
If you only saw me entertaining
An old lady friend of the wife.
By-the-way, when you’re writing, remember
That you never went drinking with me,
And forget our last night of December,
Lest our sev’ral accounts disagree.
And, for my sake, old man, you had better
Avoid the old language of strife,
For the technical terms of your letter
May be misunderstood by the wife.
Never hint of the girls appertaining
To the past (when you’re writing again),
For they take such a lot of explaining,
And you know how I hate to explain.
There are some things, we know to our sorrow,
That cut to the heart like a knife,
And your past is To-day and To-morrow
If you want to be true to the wife.
I believe that the creed we were chums in
Was grand, but too abstract and bold,
And the knowledge of life only comes in
When you’re married and fathered and old.
And it’s well. You may travel as few men,
You may stick to a mistress for life;
But the world, as it is, born of woman
Must be seen through the eyes of the wife.
No doubt you are dreaming as I did
And going the careless old pace,
While my future grows dull and decided,
And the world narrows down to the Place.
Let it be. If my ‘treason’s’ resented,
You may do worse, old man, in your life;
Let me dream, too, that I am contented—
For the sake of a true little wife.
Scheme | ABABACACBDBDECEC AAAAFCFC AGAGACAC FHFXECEC IJIJHCBC KLKLMCMC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011110110 001111011 1011101010 11011001 111010110 11111001 0110011110 11011101 1110010010 1111111 1110010010 111001101 1110011010 11011011 1111110110 111111101 1111011110 111101010 1010010110 01101011 0110010110 111011111 111011010 11101101 1011110010 111011011 00110111010 110101001 0111111110 01011011 1010011110 11001101 1011011 101111001 1111011010 011111101 11111111010 11101101 0111110110 111111101 1011011010 11110101 0010111010 111001001 0111110111 111101011 1011111110 111101101 111110111 01001011 111011010 001101101 111111010 111111011 1111111010 101101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,134 |
Words | 417 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 271 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 69 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:05 min read
- 29 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Written Afterwards" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18195/written-afterwards>.
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