Analysis of The Wild Colonial Boy
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
'Tis of a wild Colonial boy, Jack Doolan was his name,
Of poor but honest parents he was born in Castlemaine.
He was his father's only hope, his mother's only joy,
And dearly did his parents love the wild Colonial boy.
Come, all my hearties, we'll roam the mountains high,
Together we will plunder, together we will die.
We'll wander over valleys, and gallop over plains,
And we'll scorn to live in slavery, bound down with iron chains.
He was scarcely sixteen years of age when he left his father's home,
And through Australia's sunny clime a bushranger did roam.
He robbed those wealthy squatters, their stock he did destroy,
And a terror to Australia was the wild Colonial boy.
In sixty-one this daring youth commenced his wild career,
With a heart that knew no danger, no foeman did he fear.
He stuck up the Beechworth mail coach, and robbed Judge MacEvoy,
Who trembled, and gave up his gold to the wild Colonial boy.
He bade the Judge "Good morning," and told him to beware,
That he'd never rob a hearty chap that acted on the square,
And never to rob a mother of her son and only joy,
Or else you may turn outlaw, like the wild Colonial boy.
One day as he was riding the mountain side along,
A-listening to the little birds, their pleasant laughing song,
Three mounted troopers rode along—Kelly, Davis, and FitzRoy.
They thought that they would capture him—the wild Colonial boy.
"Surrender now, Jack Doolan, you see there's three to one.
Surrender now, Jack Doolan, you daring highwayman."
He drew a pistol from his belt, and shook the little toy.
"I'll fight, but not surrender," said the wild Colonial boy.
He fired at Trooper Kelly, and brought him to the ground,
And in return from Davis received a mortal wound.
All shattered through the jaws he lay still firing at FitzRoy,
And that's the way they captured him—the wild Colonial boy.
It will be noticed that the same chorus is sung to both
"The Wild Colonial Boy" and "Bold Jack Donahoo."
Several versions of both songs were sent in, but the same
chorus was always made to do duty for both songs.
Scheme | ABCC DDEE FFCC GGDC HHCC IICC BBCC JJCC XXAX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (67%) |
Metre | 110101001110111 111101011101 11110101110101 010111010101001 1111110101 0101110010111 1101010010101 011110100111101 1110011111111101 010101010111 1111010111101 0010101010101001 01011101011101 1011111011111 11101110111 1100111110101001 1101110011101 111010101110101 010110101010101 11111110101001 1111110010101 010010101110101 11010101101001 111111010101001 0101110111111 01011101101 11010111010101 111101010101001 11011010011101 0001110010101 1101011111011 010111010101001 11110101101111 010100101110 1010111010101 101111110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 2,041 |
Words | 374 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 45 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 178 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:54 min read
- 625 Views
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