Analysis of The Circling Hearths
Roderic Quinn 1867 (Surry Hills, New South Wales) – 1949 (Darlinghurst, New South Wales)
MY Countrymen, though we are young as yet
With little history, nought to show
Of lives enleagued against a foreign foe,
Torn flags and triumph, glory or regret;
Still some things make our kinship sweet,
Some deeds inglorious but of royal worth,
As when with tireless arms and toiling feet
We felled the tree and tilled the earth.
’Tis no great way that we have travelled since
Our feet first shook the storied dust
Of England from them, when with love and trust
In one another, and large confidence
In God above, our ways were ta’en
’Neath alien skies—each keeping step in mind
And soul and purpose to one trumpet strain,
One urging music on the wind:
Yet tears of ours have wet the dust, have wooed
Some subtle green things from the ground—
Like violets—only violets never wound
Such tendrils round the heart: the solitude
Has seen young hearts with love entwine;
And many gentle friends gone down to death
Have mingled with the dust, and made divine
The very soil we tread beneath.
Thus we have learned to love our country, learned
To treasure every inch from foam
To foam; to title her with name of Home;
To light in her regard a flame that burned
No land in vain, that calls the eyes
Of men to glory heights and old renown;
That wild winds cannot quench, nor thunder-skies
Make dim, nor many waters drown.
Six hearths are circled round our shores, and round
The six hearths group a common race,
Though leagues divide, the one light on their face;
The same old songs and stories rise; the sound
Of kindred voices and the dear
Old English tongue make music; and men move
From hearth to hearth with little fear
Of aught save open arms and love.
To keep these hearth-fires red, to keep the door
Of each house wide—that is our part:
Surely ’tis noble! Surely heart to heart,
God’s love upon us and one goal before,
Is something worth; something to win
Our hearts to effort; something it were good
To garner soon; and something ’twould be sin
To cast aside in wanton mood.
My Countrymen, hats off! with heart and will
Thank God that you are free, and then
Arise and don your nationhood like men,
And manlike face the world for good or ill.
Peace be to you, and in the tide
Of years great plenty till Time’s course be run:
Six Ploughmen in the same field side by side,
But, if need be, six Swords as one.
Scheme | ABBACDCD XEEXFGFG HIIHFXFX JKKJLFLF IMMINXNX OPPOFXFH QFFQRFRF |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1100111111 110100111 111010101 1101010101 11111011 11010011101 11110010101 11010101 1111111101 101110101 1101111101 0101001100 010110101 11001110101 0101011101 11010101 11110110111 11011101 110010100101 11101010 11111101 0101011111 1101010101 01011101 11111110101 110100111 1111001111 1100010111 11011101 1111010101 1111011101 11110101 11110110101 01110101 1101011111 0111010101 11010001 1101110011 11111101 11110101 11111011101 111111101 1011010111 1101101101 11011011 10111010101 1101010111 11010101 1100111101 11111101 010111011 011011111 11110001 1111011111 110011111 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,540 |
Words | 426 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 259 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 61 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:07 min read
- 27 Views
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"The Circling Hearths" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32949/the-circling-hearths>.
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