Analysis of Gone Down
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
To the voters of Glen Innes 'twas O'Sullivan that went,
To secure the country vote for Mister Hay.
So he told 'em what he'd borrowed, and he told 'em what he'd spent,
Though extravagance had blown it all away.
Said he, "Vote for Hay, my hearties, and wherever we may roam
We will borrow, undismayed by Fortune's frown!"
When he got his little banjo, and he sang them "Home, Sweet Home!"
Why, it made a blessed horse fall down.
Then he summoned his supporters, and went spouting through the bush,
To assure them that he'd build them roads galore,
If he could but borrow something from the "Plutocratic Push",
Though he knew they wouldn't lend him any more.
With his Coolangatta Croesus, who was posing for the day
As a Friend of Labour, just brought up from town:
When the Democratic Keystone told the workers, "Vote for Hay",
Then another blessed horse fell down!
When the polling day was over, and the promising was done --
The promises that never would be kept --
Then O'Sullivan came homeward at the sinking of the sun,
To the Ministerial Bench he slowly crept.
When his colleagues said, "Who won it? Is our banner waving high?
Has the Ministry retained Glen Innes Town?"
Then the great man hesitated, and responded with a sigh --
"There's another blessed seat gone down!"
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEFBDBD GHGHIDID |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101011101010011 10101011101 11111110111111 10100111101 11111110010111 11111101 11111010111111 11101111 111010100110101 10111111101 11111101011 11111011101 11111110101 1011111111 1001011010111 10101111 101011100010011 0100110111 101001101010101 10010011101 1110111111010101 10100011101 10111000010101 10101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,283 |
Words | 233 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 41 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 493 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 114 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 18, 2023
- 1:11 min read
- 69 Views
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"Gone Down" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2526/gone-down>.
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