Analysis of Song of the Dardanelles

Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)



The Wireless tells and the cable tells
How our boys behaved by the Dardanelles.
Some thought in their hearts “Will our boys make good?”
We knew them of old and we knew they would!
Knew they would—
Knew they would;
We were mates of old and we knew they would.
They laughed and they larked and they loved likewise,
For blood is warm under Southern skies;
They knew not Pharoah (’tis understood),
And they got into scrapes, as we knew they would.
Knew they would—
Knew they would;
And they got into scrapes, as we knew they would.

They chafed in the dust of an old dead land
At the long months’ drill in the scorching sand;
But they knew in their hearts it was for their good,
And they saw it through as we knew they would.
Knew they would—
Knew they would;
And they saw it through as we knew they would.

The Coo-ee called through the Mena Camp,
And an army roared like the Ocean’s tramp
On a gale-swept beach in her wildest mood,
Till the Pyramids shook as we knew they would.
Knew they would—
Knew they would.
(And the Sphinx woke up as we knew she would.)

They were shipped like sheep when the dawn was grey;
(But their officers knew that no lambs were they).
They squatted and perched where’er they could,
And they “blanky-ed” for joy as we knew they would.
Knew they would—
Knew they would;
They “blanky-ed” for joy as we knew they would.

The sea was hell and the shore was hell,
With mine, entanglement, shrapnel and shell,
But they stormed the heights as Australians should,
And they fought and they died as we knew they would.
Knew they would—
Knew they would;
They fought and they died as we knew they would.

From the southern hills and the city lanes,
From the sandwaste lone and the Blacksoil Plains;
The youngest and strongest of England’s brood!—
They’ll win for the South as we knew they would.
Knew they would—
Knew they would;
They’ll win for the South as we knew they would.


Scheme aabbBBbccbBBBB ddbBBBB eefbBBb ggbbBBb hhbbBBb iifBBBB
Poetic Form
Metre 010100101 110101101 11011110111 1111101111 111 111 1011101111 110110111 111110101 11110101 01101111111 111 111 01101111111 1100111111 1011100101 11101111111 0111111111 111 111 0111111111 011110101 0110110101 1011100101 10100111111 111 111 0011111111 1011110111 11100111101 1101111 01111111111 111 111 1111111111 011100111 1101001001 1110110101 01101111111 111 111 1101111111 1010100101 10110011 0100101101 1110111111 111 111 1110111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,896
Words 357
Sentences 20
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 14, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7
Lines Amount 49
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 244
Words per stanza (avg) 59
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:47 min read
91

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

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