Analysis of A Federal Song

George Essex Evans 1863 (London) – 1909 (Toowoomba)



IN the greyness of the dawning we have seen the pilot-star,
In the whisper of the morning we have heard the years afar.
Shall we sleep and let them be
When they call to you and me?
Can we break the land asunder God has girdled with the Sea?
For the Flag is floating o’er us,
And the track is clear before us,
From the desert to the ocean, let us lift the mighty chorus
For the days that are to be.
We have flung the challenge forward: “Brothers, stand or fall as One!”
She is coming out to meet us in the splendour of the Sun.
From the graves beneath the sky
Where Her nameless heroes lie,
From the forelands of the Future they are waiting our reply!
We can face the roughest weather
If we only hold together,
Marching forward to the Future, marching shoulder-firm together,
For the Nation yet to be.

All the greyness of the dawning, all the mists are over-past,
In the glory of the morning we shall see Her face at last.
He who sang, “She yet will be,”
He shall hail her, crowned and free!
Could we break the land asunder God has girdled with the Sea?
For the Flag is floating o’er us,
And the star of Hope before us,
From the desert to the ocean, brothers, lift the mighty chorus
For Australian Unity.


Scheme aabbbCccbddeeefffb ggbbbCccb
Poetic Form
Metre 00110101110101 001010101110101 1110111 1111101 11101010111101 10111011 00111011 1010101011101010 1011111 111010101011111 11101111001101 1010101 1010101 101101011101001 11101010 11101010 1010101010101010 1010111 10110101011101 001010101110111 1111111 1110101 11101010111101 10111011 00111011 1010101010101010 1010100
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,199
Words 236
Sentences 13
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 18, 9
Lines Amount 27
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 466
Words per stanza (avg) 116
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:10 min read
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George Essex Evans

George Essex Evans was an Australian poet. more…

All George Essex Evans poems | George Essex Evans Books

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    The repetition of similar sounds at the ends of words or within words is known as _______.
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    C stanza
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