Analysis of Amelia Jane



In the lands away beyond the sea, where Khan and Sultan rule,
Where they drink their coffee thick and black, and sip the sherbet cool,
They have white Circassian girls for slaves, as well as the Negro black;
And it seems to me in our free land that slavery's coming back:
It's fenced about with custom and law, and they give it a prettier name.
But, spite of the paltry wage that's paid, it's slavery all the same.

In a handsome home in a stately town is worthy Mrs MacFee,
Chairwoman known of a Christian guild, for a noble dame is she:
Her doors are open to strangers all who call and leave their card;
But Amelia Jane, who left last week, declares the place was hard.
Surely Amelia Jane was wrong: she should have been happy to stay,
For she's only hanging around the town looking for work today.

Such a good woman is Mrs MacFee, toiling with voice and hand
In the cause of the poor little Indian girls away in a distant land;
Such a good woman is Mrs MacFee, for hers is an open door,
And her name's at the top of the charity list for the wives of the drunken poor.
But Amelia Jane has a hungry look, with hollows under the eyes:
She says she was starved, but everyone knows that Amelia Jane tells lies.

Such a good woman is Mrs MacFee, she has family prayers at night,
And she loves, she says, to make the lives of her poorer sisters bright.
Amelia Jane has a hardened heart: she talks of her weary feet,
And says that, in spite of all the prayers, she had never enough to eat.
It was hard to join the chorused words of 'Give us our daily bread',
And, after washing the dishes up, to stagger hungry to bed.

Once in the week Amelia Jane got out for an hour or two,
Once in a fortnight went to church with another slave she knew.
She never had time to read a book, and the changeless mill went round,
And nobody knew how she ached at night while body and soul were ground.
But these are the lies of Amelia Jane, and it's wrong to set them down,
For everyone knows that Mrs MacFee is the kindest woman in town.

Silly and light is Amelia Jane: she has no ideas of her own;
You never would think her the bright little girl that you once on a time had known.
She was clever enough when she went to school; she was pretty enough in her way;
She hasn't improved, her schoolmates think, when they met her in town today:
And it's all her fault, for, whatever the cause, I am sure that Mrs MacFee
Is a model mistress in every way, and with that you will all agree.

In the lands away beyond the sea, where Khan and Sultan rule,
Where they drink their coffee thick and black, and sip the sherbet cool,
They have white Circassian girls for slaves, as well as the Negro black;
And it seems to me in our free land that slavery's coming back:
It's fenced about with custom and law, and they give it a prettier name.
But, spite of the paltry wage that's paid, it's slavery all the same.


Scheme AABBCC deffgg hhxxii jjkkll mmnnoo ppggde AABBCC
Poetic Form
Metre 001010101110101 111110101010101 11111111110101 011110101111101 110111001011101001 1110101111100101 0010100101110101 101101011010111 011101101110111 101011111010111 1001011111111011 1110100101101101 101101101101101 0011011010010100101 1011011011011101 00110110100110110101 10101101011101001 1111111011010111 10110110111100111 0111111011010101 0101101011110101 01101110111100111 1111101111110101 0101001011101011 1001010111111011 10011111010111 110111101001111 011111111100101 11101101010111111 1101110110101001 100110101111010101 1101100110111110111 11100111111111001001 1100101111100101 01101110011111101 1010100100101111101 001010101110101 111110101010101 11111111110101 011110101111101 110111001011101001 1110101111100101
Characters 2,873
Words 558
Sentences 17
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 42
Letters per line (avg) 53
Words per line (avg) 13
Letters per stanza (avg) 318
Words per stanza (avg) 79
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:51 min read
38

David McKee Wright

David McKee Wright was an Irish-born poet and journalist, active in New Zealand and Australia. more…

All David McKee Wright poems | David McKee Wright Books

1 fan

Discuss this David McKee Wright poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Amelia Jane" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7915/amelia-jane>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    8
    hours
    23
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    The haiku is originally from ______.
    A Japan
    B China
    C Indonesia
    D Ireland