Analysis of A Voice from the City
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
On western plain and eastern hill
Where once my fancy ranged,
The station hands are riding still
And they are little changed.
But I have lost in London gloom
The glory of the day,
The grand perfume of wattle bloom
Is faint and far away.
Brown faces under broad-brimmed hats
The grip of wiry hands,
The gallops on the frosty flats,
Seem dreams of other lands;
The camp fire and the stars that blaze
Above the mystic plain
Are but the thoughts of vanished days
That never come again.
The evening star I seldom view—
That led me on to roam—
I never see the morning star
That used to draw me home.
But I have often longed for day
To hide the few I see,
Because they only point and say
Most bitter things to me.
I wear my life on pavement stones
That drag me ever down,
A paltry slave to little things,
By custom chained to town.
I’ve lost the strength to strike alone,
The heart to do and dare—
I mind the day I’d roll my swag
And tramp to—God-knows-where.
When I should wait I wander out,
When I should go I bide—
I scarcely dare to think about
The days when I could ride.
I would not mount before his eyes,
‘Straight’ Bushman tall and tan—
I mind the day when I stood up
And fought him like a man.
I mind the time when I was shy
To meet the brown Bush girls—
I’ve lunched with lords since then and I
Have been at home with earls:
I learned to smile and learned to bow
And lie to ladies gay—
But to a gaunt Bushwoman now
I’d not know what to say.
And if I sought her hard bare home
From scenes of show and sham,
I’d sit all ill at ease and fell
The poor weak thing I am.
I could not meet her hopeless eyes
That look one through and through,
The haggard woman of the past
Who once thought I was true.
But nought on earth can last for aye,
And wild with care and pain,
Some day by chance I’ll break away
And seek the Bush again.
And find awhile from bitter years
The rest the Bush can bring,
And hear, perhaps, with truer ears
The songs it has to sing.
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEFGHGI JKXKDLDL XMXMXNON PQPQRSXS TUTUVDVD KWXWRJXJ THDIXOXO |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 111101 01011101 011101 11110101 010101 01011101 110101 11010111 011101 0110101 111101 011000111 010101 11011101 110101 01011101 111111 11010101 111111 11110111 110111 01110101 110111 11111101 111101 01011101 110111 11011101 011101 11011111 011111 11111101 111111 11011101 011111 11110111 110101 11011111 011101 11011111 110111 11111101 111111 11110111 011101 110111 111111 01110111 111101 11111101 011111 11110101 111101 01010101 111111 11111111 011101 11111101 010101 01011101 010111 01011101 011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,931 |
Words | 393 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 215 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 11, 2023
- 1:58 min read
- 125 Views
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"A Voice from the City" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17716/a-voice-from-the-city>.
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