Analysis of Song of the Wild Bushman
Thomas Pringle 1789 (Blakelaw) – 1834
Let the proud White Man boast his flocks,
And fields of foodful grain;
My home is 'mid the mountain rocks,
The Desert my domain.
I plant no herbs nor pleasant fruits,
I toil not for my cheer;
The Desert yields me juicy roots,
And herds of bounding deer.
The countless springboks are my flock,
Spread o'er the unbounded plain;
The buffalo bendeth to my yoke,
The wild-horse to my rein;
My yoke is the quivering assagai,
My rein the tough bow-string;
My bridle curb is a slender barb --
Yet it quells the forest-king.
The crested adder honoureth me,
And yields at my command
His poison-bag, like the honey-bee,
When I seize him on the sand.
Yea, even the wasting locusts' swarm,
Which mighty nations dread,
To me nor terror brings nor harm --
For I make of them my bread.
Thus I am lord of the Desert Land,
And I will not leave my bounds,
To crouch beneath the Christian's hand,
And kennel with his hounds:
To be a hound, and watch the flocks,
For the cruel White Man's gain --
No! the brown Serpent of the Rocks
His den doth yet retain;
And none who there his sting provokes,
Shall find its poison vain!
Scheme | ABABCDCD EBXBEFXF GHGHXIXI HJHJABABXB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10111111 01111 11110101 010101 11111101 111111 01011101 011101 0101111 11000101 0101111 011111 11101001 110111 110110101 1110101 0101011 011101 110110101 1111101 110010101 110101 11110111 1111111 111110101 0111111 1101011 010111 11010101 1010111 10110101 111101 01111101 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,104 |
Words | 208 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 10 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 212 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 52 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 95 Views
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