Analysis of The Tree of Liberty

Charles Harpur 1813 (Windsor) – 1868 (Australia)



WE’LL PLANT a Tree of Liberty
In the centre of the land,
And round it ranged as guardians be,
A vowed and trusty band;
And sages bold and mighty soul’d
Shall dress it day by day:
But woe unto the traitor who
Would break one branch away.

Then sing the Tree of Liberty
For the vow that we have made;
May it so flourish that when we
Are buried in its shade,
Fair Womanhood and Love and Good,
All pilgrims pure shall go
Its growth to bless for happiness—
O may it flourish so!

Till felled by gold as bards have told,
In the Old World once it grew,
But there its fruits were ever sold
And only to the Few:
But here at last, uncurs’d by caste,
Each man at Nature’s call
Shall pluck as well what none may sell,
The fruit that blooms for All.

By gold ’twas felled as bards have held
In the Old World where it grew,
But here the power that there dispelled
Its life shall be its dew:
The evil bout of Time is out,
And gold no more a thrall,
Shall here but build for Truth and gild
The fruit that blooms for All.

Then sing the Tree of Liberty,
And the men who shall defend
Its glorious future righteously
For this all-glorious end—
That happiness all men to bless
Out with its growth may grow—
Our Southern Tree of Liberty
Shall flourish even so!


Scheme ababacdc Aeaexfxf gdgdxhxH ididxhxH Ajajxfaf
Poetic Form Etheree  (30%)
Metre 11011100 0010101 011111001 010101 01010101 111111 11100101 111101 11011100 1011111 11110111 110011 1100101 110111 11111100 111101 11111111 0011111 11110101 010101 1111111 111101 11111111 011111 11111111 0011111 110101101 111111 01011111 011101 11111101 011111 11011100 0011101 110010100 1111001 11001111 111111 101011100 110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,220
Words 245
Sentences 6
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 192
Words per stanza (avg) 49
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:13 min read
84

Charles Harpur

Charles Harpur was an Australian poet. more…

All Charles Harpur poems | Charles Harpur Books

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