Analysis of Wallabi Joe
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
The saddle was hung on the stockyard rail,
And the poor old horse stood whisking his tail,
For there never was seen such a regular screw
As Wallabi Joe, of Bunnagaroo;
Whilst the shearers all said, as they say, of course,
That Wallabi Joe's a fine lump of a horse;
But the stockmen said, as they laughed aside,
He'd barely do for a Sunday's ride.
O—oh! poor Wallabi Joe.
"I'm weary of galloping now," he cried,
"I wish I were killed for my hide, my hide;
For my eyes are dim, and my back is sore,
And I feel that my legs won't stand much more."
Now stockman Bill, who took care of his nag,
Put under the saddle a soojee bag,
And off he rode with a whip in his hand
To look for a mob of the R.J. brand.
Now stockman Bill camped out that night,
And he hobbled his horse in a sheltered bight;
Next day of old Joe he found not a track,
So he had to trudge home with his swag on his back.
He searched up and down every gully he knew,
But he found not a hair of his poor old screw,
And the stockmen all said as they laughed at his woe,
"Would you sell us the chance of old Wallabi Joe."
Now as years sped by, and as Bill grew old,
It came into his head to go poking for gold;
So away he went with a spade in his fist,
To hunt for a nugget among the schist.
One day as a gully he chanced to cross,
He came on the bones of his poor old horse;
The hobbles being jammed in a root below
Had occasioned the death of poor Wallabi Joe.
Scheme | AABBCCDD EDDFF GGHH IIJJBBEE KKLLXCEE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010111011 001111111 111011101001 11111 1011111111 111011101 101111101 11011011 11111 1101100111 1110111111 1111101111 0111111111 1101111111 110010011 0111101011 111011011 11011111 01101100101 1111111101 111111111111 111011001011 11110111111 00111111111 1111011111 1111101111 110111111011 10111101011 1110100101 1110101111 1110111111 01010100101 1010011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,399 |
Words | 299 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 5, 4, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 215 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 59 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 42 Views
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"Wallabi Joe" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2729/wallabi-joe>.
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