Brogan's Lane

Louis Esson 1878 – 1943



There's a crack in the city—down that sharp street  
 In couples, and armed, tramp rozzers on beat.  
Like a joss, silhouetted across the pane,  
A Chinese face watches down Brogan’s Lane,  
   Brogan’s Lane, Brogan’s Lane,          
A reeling moon blinks over Brogan’s Lane.  
 
Flash Fred, when he dives on a red lot, sneaks thro’  
To moscow the swag with a Polaky Jew.  
Tho’ rooked by old Shylock, he needn’t complain,  
The melting pot bubbles in Brogan’s Lane,          
 Brogan’s Lane, Brogan’s Lane,  
Rats pinch from their cobbers down Brogan’s Lane.  
 
And Jenny, fresh down from the country, goes gay  
And drives to the races and laughs at the play;  
Till one morn, lying out in the cold and the rain,          
A body is perished in Brogan’s Lane,  
 Brogan’s Lane, Brogan’s Lane,  
There’s only one turn to the long last lane.  
 
With opium dens, sly cribs, bones and rags,  
’Tis the haunt of thieves, wastrels, poor women and vags.          
They booze to bring joy, they sin to numb pain,  
But there’ll come a stretch at the end of the lane,  
 Brogan’s Lane, Brogan’s Lane,  
The river and morgue shadow Brogan’s Lane.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

57 sec read
39

Quick analysis:

Scheme aabbBb xxbbBb ccbbBb ddbbBb
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,165
Words 190
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6

Louis Esson

Thomas Louis Buvelot Esson was an Australian poet, journalist, critic and playwright. more…

All Louis Esson poems | Louis Esson Books

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