Analysis of Sunrise on the Coast

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



Grey dawn on the sand-hills -- the night wind has drifted
All night from the rollers a scent of the sea;
With the dawn the grey fog his battalions has lifted,
At the call of the morning they scatter and flee.
Like mariners calling the roll of their number
The sea-fowl put out to the infinite deep.
And far overhead -- sinking softly to slumber --
Worn out by their watching the stars fall asleep.

To eastward, where rests the broad dome of the skies on
The sea-line, stirs softly the curtain of night;
And far from behind the enshrouded horizon
Comes the voice of a God saying "Let there be light."

And lo, there is light! Evanescent and tender,
It glows ruby-red where 'twas now ashen-grey;
And purple and scarlet and gold in its splendour --
Behold, 'tis that marvel, the birth of a day!


Scheme ABABCDCD XEXE CFCF
Poetic Form
Metre 111011011110 11101001101 1010111010110 101101011001 110010011110 01111101001 011011010110 11111001101 110110111011 01111001011 011010010010 101101101111 01111010010 11101111101 01001001011 01111001101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 798
Words 149
Sentences 7
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 38
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 204
Words per stanza (avg) 49
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 02, 2023

44 sec read
81

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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