The Free-Selector's Daughter

Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)




I met her on the Lachlan Side --
 A darling girl I thought her,
And ere I left I swore I'd win
 The free-selector's daughter.
 
I milked her father's cows a month,
 I brought the wood and water,
I mended all the broken fence,
 Before I won the daughter.
 
I listened to her father's yarns,
 I did just what I `oughter',
And what you'll have to do to win
 A free-selector's daughter.
 
I broke my pipe and burnt my twist,
 And washed my mouth with water;
I had a shave before I kissed
 The free-selector's daughter.
 
Then, rising in the frosty morn,
 I brought the cows for Mary,
And when I'd milked a bucketful
 I took it to the dairy.
 
I poured the milk into the dish
 While Mary held the strainer,
I summoned heart to speak my wish,
 And, oh! her blush grew plainer.
 
I told her I must leave the place,
 I said that I would miss her;
At first she turned away her face,
 And then she let me kiss her.
 
I put the bucket on the ground,
 And in my arms I caught her:
I'd give the world to hold again
 That free-selector's daughter!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 18, 2023

1:03 min read
127

Quick analysis:

Scheme xabA xaxa xaba cacA xdxd eaea fafa xaxa
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,034
Words 200
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson 17 June 1867 - 2 September 1922 was an Australian writer and poet Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period more…

All Henry Lawson poems | Henry Lawson Books

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