Analysis of Rebel Hearts
John Le Gay Brereton 1871 (Sydney) – 1933
An outcry in the bush below,
A crash, and boughs that sway,
And shouts of laughter let me know
Where my two ruffians play.
Barelegged, bareheaded, brown and free,
They lurk and prowl and spring;
Like tiger-cubs they disagree,
Like honeysuckers sing.
For in their hearts are echoes yet
From ages when they knew
The caves of green they now forget,
Though there they climbed or flew.
No cage set limits to their pace;
They held the hunt at bay;
And in their careless mien I trace
The savage mood to-day.
They'll take no tidal drift, nor lie
And rot like souls of mud,
For sullen lip and flashing eye
Betray the rebel blood.
Go, flout the law your hearts disdain
Your foes are well arrayed
And take for guerdon love and pain,
And triumph unafraid.
In jungles where the night imparts
Her secret lore to you,
Lie still and listen to your hearts.
Be true, my sons, be true!
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GBGB HIHI JKJK LFLF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1100101 010111 01110111 11111 11101 110101 11011001 111 10111101 110111 01111101 111111 11110111 110111 00110111 010111 11110111 011111 11010101 010101 11011101 111101 0111101 01001 01010101 010111 11010111 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 847 |
Words | 162 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 97 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 63 Views
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"Rebel Hearts" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23686/rebel-hearts>.
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