Analysis of On The Road To Gundagai

Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)



Oh, we started down from Roto when the sheds had all cut out.
We'd whips and whips of Rhino as we meant to push about,
So we humped our blues serenely and made for Sydney town,
With a three-spot cheque between us, as wanted knocking down.

But we camped at Lazy Harry's, on the road to Gundagai
The road to Gundagai!    Not five miles from Gundagai!
Yes, we camped at Lazy Harry's, on the road to Gundagai.

Well, we struck the Murrumbidgee near the Yanko in a week,
And passed through old Narrandera and crossed the Burnet Creek.
And we never stopped at Wagga, for we'd Sydney in our eye.
 But we camped at Lazy Harry's, on the road to Gundagai.

Oh, I've seen a lot of girls, my boys, and drunk a lot of beer,
And I've met with some of both, chaps, as has left me mighty queer;
But for beer to knock you sideways, and for girls to make you sigh,
You must camp at Lazy Harry's, on the road to Gundagai.

Well, we chucked our blooming swags off, and we walked into the bar,
And we called for rum-an'-raspb'ry and a shilling each cigar.
But the girl that served the pizen, she winked at Bill and I
And we camped at Lazy Harry's,    not five miles from Gundagai.

In a week the spree was over and the cheque was all knocked down,
So we shouldered our "Matildas," and we turned our backs on town,
And the girls they stood a nobbler as we sadly said "Good bye,"
And we tramped from Lazy Harry's, not five miles from Gundagai;


Scheme aabb Ccc ccdC eedc ffdc bbdc
Poetic Form
Metre 111011101011111 1101111111101 1111010100011101 10111011110101 1111101010111 011111111 1111101010111 111011010001 01111010101 011011111100101 1111101010111 111011111010111 011111111111101 11111110111111 1111101010111 1111010110110101 01111110010101 1011101111101 0111101011111 001011100011111 111010101110111 00111011110111 0111101011111
Closest metre Iambic octameter
Characters 1,409
Words 276
Sentences 12
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 23
Letters per line (avg) 47
Words per line (avg) 12
Letters per stanza (avg) 179
Words per stanza (avg) 46
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:25 min read
42

Andrew Barton Paterson

Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales, where he spent much of his childhood. Paterson's more notable poems include "Clancy of the Overflow" (1889), "The Man from Snowy River" (1890) and "Waltzing Matilda" (1895), regarded widely as Australia's unofficial national anthem. more…

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