Analysis of Shearing at Castlereagh
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
The bell is set a-ringing, and the engine gives a toot,
There's five-and-thirty shearers here a-shearing for the loot,
So stir yourselves, you penners-up, and shove the sheep along --
The musterers are fetching them a hundred thousand strong --
And make your collie dogs speak up; what would the buyers say
In London if the wool was late this year from Castlereagh?
The man that "rung" the Tubbo shed is not the ringer here,
That stripling from the Cooma-side can teach him how to shear.
They trim away the ragged locks, and rip the cutter goes,
And leaves a track of snowy fleece from brisket to the nose;
It's lovely how they peel it off with never stop nor stay,
They're racing for the ringer's place this year at Castlereagh.
The man that keeps the cutters sharp is growling in his cage,
He's always in a hurry; and he's always in a rage --
"You clumsy-fisted mutton-heads, you'd turn a fellow sick,
You pass yourselves as shearers, you were born to swing a pick.
Another broken cutter here, that's two you've broke today,
It's awful how such crawlers come to shear at Castlereagh."
The youngsters picking up the fleece enjoy the merry din,
They throw the classer up the fleece, he throws it to the bin;
The pressers standing by the rack are watching for the wool,
There's room for just a couple more, the press is nearly full;
Now jump upon the lever, lads, and heave and heave away,
Another bale of golden fleece is branded "Castlereagh".
Scheme | AABBCDXXEECD FFGGCD HHIICD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110100010101 1101011010101 1101111010101 011101010101 01110111110101 010101111111 0111011110101 1101011111111 11010101010101 01011101110101 11011111110111 11010111111 01110101110011 110010011001 11010101110101 1101111011101 01010101111101 11011111111 01010101010101 1101101111101 0110101110101 11110101011101 11010101010101 010111011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,452 |
Words | 262 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 47 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 374 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 86 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 72 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Shearing at Castlereagh" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2597/shearing-at-castlereagh>.
Discuss this Andrew Barton Paterson 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