Analysis of Brother, You’ll Take My Hand
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
NOT to the sober and staid,
Leading a quiet life,
But to men whose paths are laid
Ever through storm and strife—
Here is a song from me,
Sent to the tragic West,
Message of sympathy
To the hearts that can never rest.
This is the song I send
Out to the Western land—
Sinner, and martyr, and friend,
Brother! you’ll take my hand.
To you who have loved and lost;
To you whose souls have died
Cursing a fair false face
And the red warm lips that lied;
Loved with a boyish love,
With a love that was pure and true,
That set one woman above
The world that was known to you;
Eating your heart out now
Alone on a waste of sand—
I have been played with too.
Brother! you’ll take my hand.
To you who were loved too well,
And who cast that love aside
When your vanity was replete
And your passion was satisfied—
Haunted now day and night;
Haunted in every place
By the eyes of a suicide,
Set in a dead girl’s face.
Crouched in your misery
Out where the stars are grand—
O I am haunted too!
Brother! you’ll take my hand.
To you who had wealth or name,
Friends, love, and a future fair,
And who sacrificed all for drink
And the nights of Leicester Square:
In by the drunken town,
Out on the barren tramp,
Pacing it up and down
Alone by the listening camp;
Crouched in your agony,
Hiding your eyes with your hand—
I had the ball at my feet—
Brother! I understand.
There is a light for all;
Hold up your head and live!
Forgive the woman who wronged,
And the dead girl will forgive.
Brood not, but work for good;
Work in the world of men—
Strong is the man who fell
And rose from the depths again.
There shall be peace for you,
Sinners, who win the land.
I would fight upward too—
Brother! you’ll take my hand.
Scheme | ababcdcdefeF xghgijijxfjF kglgxhghcfjF xmxmnonocflf xxxxxpkpjfjF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (33%) |
Metre | 1101001 100101 1111111 101101 110111 110101 101100 10111101 110111 110101 1001001 101111 1111101 111111 100111 0011111 110101 10111101 1111001 0111111 101111 0110111 111111 101111 1110111 0111101 11100101 0110110 101101 1001001 1011010 100111 101100 110111 111101 101111 1111111 1100101 0110111 0011101 010101 110101 101101 01101001 101100 1011111 1101111 10101 110111 111101 0101011 0011101 111111 100111 110111 0110101 111111 101101 111101 101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,671 |
Words | 335 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 12, 12, 12, 12 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 260 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 67 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 1:40 min read
- 83 Views
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"Brother, You’ll Take My Hand" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17760/brother%2C-you%E2%80%99ll-take-my-hand>.
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