Analysis of The Australian Outback



The ground is so dry it’s hard, and it’s cracked
The rivers don’t run in the outback
There’s no feed for the stock. It’s a farmer’s plight.
The dams have dried up. It’s a heartbreaking sight.

The Willy Willy stretched from the sky to the ground
Where the dust devils whirl around and around
There’s nothing to see, not a blade of grass
And there’s nothing to do, just hope it won’t last

We just pray for rain to soak the ground
And watch the water flowing all around
Then, overnight, the ground turns green
Flowers are blooming where the dust has been

There is life once more with a sigh of relief
We start once again and forget all the grief
The farmer is happy as he round’s up his herd
The sheep need shearing, as they are full of burs

As the water slowly finds its way to the sea,
To think we were worried it’s a cycle, you see
Then the earth dries out once again
The cracks appear, and we pray for rain


Scheme XXAA BBCX BBXX DDXC EEXX
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Etheree  (20%)
Metre 0111111011 01011001 11110110101 0111110101 010101101101 10110101001 1101110111 01101111111 111111101 0101010101 11010111 1011010111 11111101101 11101001101 010110111111 01110111111 101010111101 111010101011 10111101 010101111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 949
Words 188
Sentences 5
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 141
Words per stanza (avg) 35

About this poem

It’s about the Australian outback in times of drought

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Written on December 10, 2020

Submitted by dianepoole1 on November 13, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

56 sec read
52

Diane Poole

I’m 75 a pensioner and I live Qld Australia. I make jewellery for markets and keep myself busy. I have never writing anything in my life before, and poems just started popping into my head. more…

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