Analysis of Queen Hilda of Virland

Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)



PART I
Queen Hilda rode along the lines,
And she was young and fair;
And forward on her shoulders fell
The heavy braids of hair:
No gold was ever dug from earth
Like that burnished there –
No sky so blue as were her eyes
Had man seen anywhere.

'Twas so her gay court poets sang,
And we believed it true.
But men must fight for golden hair
And die for eyes of blue!
Cheer after cheer, the long half mile
(It has been ever thus),
And evermore her winsome smile
She turned and turned on us.

The Spring-burst over wood and sea,
The day was warm and bright –
Young Clarence stood on my left hand,
Old Withen on the right.
With fifteen thousand men, or more,
With plumes and banners gay,
To sail that day to foreign war,
And our ships swarmed on the bay.

Old Withen muttered in his beard I listened with a sigh –
"Good Faith! for such a chit as that
Strong men must kill and die.
She'll back to her embroideree,
And fools that bow and smirk,
And we must sail across the sea
And go to other work.

"And wherefore? Wherefore," Withen said,
"Is this red quarrel sought?
Because of clacking painted hags
And foreign fops at Court!
Because 'tis said a drunken king,
In lands we've never seen,
Said something foolish in his cups
Of our young silly queen!

"Good faith! in her old great-aunt's time
'Twere different, I vow:
If old Dame Ruth were here, she'd get
Some sharp advising now!"
(At this a grim smile went about
For men could say in sooth
That none who'd seen her face could doubt
The fair fame of Dame Ruth.)

If Clarence heard, he said no word;
His soul was fresh and clean;
The glory in his boyish eyes
Was shining for his Queen!
And as she passed, he gazed as one
An angel might regard.
(Old Withen looked as if he'd like
To take and smack her hard.)

We only smiled at anything
That good old Withen said,
For he, half blind, through smoke and flame
Had borne her grandsire dead;
And he, in Virland's danger time,
Where both her brothers died,
Had ridden to red victory
By her brave father's side.

Queen Hilda rode along the lines
'Mid thundering cheers the while,
And each man sought – and seemed to get –
Her proud and happy smile.
Queen Hilda little dreamed – Ah, me! –
On what dark miry plain,
And what blood-blinded eyes would see
Her girlish smile again!

Queen Hilda rode on through the crowd,
We heard the distant roar;
We heard the clack of gear and plank,
The sailors on the shore.
Queen Hilda sought her "bower" to rest,
(For her day's work was done),
We kissed our wives – or others' wives –
And sailed ere set of sun.

(Some sail because they're married men,
And some because they're free –
To come or not come back agen,
And such of old were we.
Some sail for fame and some for loot
And some for love – or lust –
And some to fish and some to shoot
And some because they must.

(Some sail who know not why they roam
When they are come aboard,
And some for wives and loves at home,
And some for those abroad.
Some sail because the path is plain,
And some because they choose,
And some with nothing left to gain
And nothing left to lose.

(And we have sailed from Virland, we,
For a woman's right or wrong,
And we are One, and One, and Three,
And Fifteen Thousand strong.
For Right or Wrong and Virland's fame –
You dared us and we come
To write in blood a woman's name
And take a letter home.)

PART II
King Death came riding down the lines
And broken lines were they,
With scarce a soldier who could tell
Where friend or foeman lay:
The storm cloud looming over all,
Save where the west was red,
And on the field, of friend and foe,
Ten thousand men lay dead.

Boy Clarence lay in slush and blood
With his face deathly white;
Old Withen lay by his left side
And I knelt at his right.
And Clarence ever whispered,
Though with dying eyes serene:
"I loved her for her girlhood,.
Will someone tell the Queen?"

And this old Withen's message,
When his time shortly came:
"I loved her for her father's sake
But I fought for Virland's fame:
Go, take you this, a message
From me," Old Withen said,
"Who knelt beside her father,
And his when they were dead:

"I who in


Scheme aBcdcecfc xgcghihi jkxklmlm axacnjn oxbxpqxq rstsueux vqfqwxxx poyorzjz Bhthj1 j2 xlxlxwxw 2 jqj3 4 3 4 5 x5 x1 6 1 6 j7 j7 yxy5 abmdmxoxo xkzkvqxq 8 yxy8 oxo x
Poetic Form Etheree  (27%)
Tetractys  (21%)
Metre 11 11010101 011101 01010101 010111 11110111 11101 11111001 11110 11011101 010111 11111101 011111 11010111 111101 0100101 110111 01110101 011101 11011111 11101 10110111 110101 11111101 01011101 1110011110101 11110111 111101 11101 011101 01110101 011101 01111 111101 0111101 010111 01110101 011101 11010011 1101101 11001111 110011 11110111 110101 11011101 111101 11110111 011111 11011111 111101 01001101 110111 01111111 110101 1111111 110101 1101110 11111 11111101 11011 0101101 110101 11011100 101101 11010101 1100101 01110111 010101 11010111 11111 01110111 010101 11011101 110101 11011101 010101 110101011 101111 111011101 011111 11011101 010111 1111111 011101 11110111 011111 01110111 010111 11111111 111101 01110111 011101 11010111 010111 01110111 010111 0111111 1010111 01110101 001101 1111011 111011 11010101 010101 11 11110101 010101 11010111 11111 01110101 110111 01011101 110111 11010101 111101 1111111 011111 0101010 1110101 110101 11101 011110 111101 11010101 111111 1111010 11111 1101010 011101 110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 4,086
Words 789
Sentences 36
Stanzas 17
Stanza Lengths 9, 8, 8, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9, 8, 8, 1
Lines Amount 130
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 183
Words per stanza (avg) 46
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

4:00 min read
39

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson 17 June 1867 - 2 September 1922 was an Australian writer and poet Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period more…

All Henry Lawson poems | Henry Lawson Books

3 fans

Discuss this Henry Lawson poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Queen Hilda of Virland" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17893/queen-hilda-of-virland>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    21
    hours
    51
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Poet George McDonald wrote a two-word poem that reads _____ _____?
    A Let's Go.
    B Good Bye.
    C Come Home.
    D See You!