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
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:21 min read
72

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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