Analysis of Stand by the Engines
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
On the moonlighted decks there are children at play,
While smoothly the steamer is holding her way;
And the old folks are chatting on deck-seats and chairs,
And the lads and the lassies go strolling in pairs.
Some gaze half-entranced on the beautiful sea,
And wonder perhaps if a vision it be:
And surely their journeys no sorrow nor care,
For wealth, love, and beauty are passengers there.
But down underneath, ’mid the coal dust that smears
The face and the hands, work the ship’s engineers.
Whate’er be the duty of others, ’tis theirs
To stand by their engines whatever occurs.
The sailor may gaze on the sea and the sky;
The sailor may tell when the danger is nigh;
But when Death his black head o’er the waters uprears,
Unseen he is met by the ship’s engineers.
They are thrown from their feet by the force of a shock;
They know that their vessel has struck on a rock.
Now stand by your engines when danger appears,
For all may depend on the ship’s engineers!
No thought of their danger! No mad rush on deck!
They stand at their posts in the hull of a wreck,
Firm hands on the valves; and the white steam appears;
And down with their ship go the brave engineers!
Scheme | AABB CCDD EEBX FFBE GGEE HHEE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (83%) |
Metre | 1011111011 11001011001 001111011101 00100111001 11101101001 01001101011 01011011011 11101011001 1101101111 01001101101 1101011011 1111101001 01011101001 01011101011 11111110101 01111101101 111111101101 11111011101 11111011001 11101101101 11111011111 11111001101 11101001101 01111101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,166 |
Words | 218 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 152 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 88 Views
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