Analysis of A Bush Girl
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
She's milking in the rain and dark,
As did her mother in the past.
The wretched shed of poles and bark,
Rent by the wind, is leaking fast.
She sees the “home-roof” black and low,
Where, balefully, the hut-fire gleams—
And, like her mother, long ago,
She has her dreams; she has her dreams.
The daybreak haunts the dreary scene,
The brooding ridge, the blue-grey bush,
The “yard” where all her years have been,
Is ankle-deep in dung and slush;
She shivers as the hour drags on,
Her threadbare dress of sackcloth seems—
But, like her mother, years agone,
She has her dreams; she has her dreams.
The sullen “breakfast” where they cut
The blackened “junk.” The lowering face,
As though a crime were in the hut,
As though a curse was on the place;
The muttered question and reply,
The tread that shakes the rotting beams,
The nagging mother, thin and dry—
God help the girl! She has her dreams.
Then for “th’ separator” start,
Most wretched hour in all her life,
With “horse” and harness, dress and cart,
No Chinaman would give his “wife”;
Her heart is sick for light and love,
Her face is often fair and sweet,
And her intelligence above
The minds of all she’s like to meet.
She reads, by slush-lamp light, may be,
When she has dragged her dreary round,
And dreams of cities by the sea
(Where butter’s up, so much the pound),
Of different men from those she knows,
Of shining tides and broad, bright streams;
Of theatres and city shows,
And her release! She has her dreams.
Could I gain her a little rest,
A little light, if but for one,
I think that it would be the best
Of any good I may have done.
But, after all, the paths we go
Are not so glorious as they seem,
And—if t’will help her heart to know—
I’ve had my dream. ’Twas but a dream.
Scheme | ababcdcDexxxxdeD fgfghdhd ijijklkl mnmnodod pqpqcrcr |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11000101 11010001 01011101 11011101 11011101 1101101 01010101 11011101 0110101 01010111 01110111 11010101 110101011 011111 1101011 11011101 01010111 010101001 11010001 11011101 01010001 01110101 01010101 11011101 111111 110100101 11010101 111111 01111101 01110101 00010001 01111111 11111111 11110101 01110101 11011101 110011111 11010111 11000101 00011101 11100101 01011111 11111101 11011111 11010111 111100111 01110111 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,754 |
Words | 328 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 264 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 65 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 10, 2023
- 1:38 min read
- 131 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Bush Girl" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17701/a-bush-girl>.
Discuss this Henry Lawson poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In