Analysis of The Days when we went Swimming
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
The breezes waved the silver grass,
Waist-high along the siding,
And to the creek we ne'er could pass
Three boys on bare-back riding;
Beneath the sheoaks in the bend
The waterhole was brimming -
Do you remember yet, old friend,
The times we 'went in swimming'?
The days we 'played the wag' from school -
Joys shared - and paid for singly -
The air was hot, the water cool -
And naked boys are kingly!
With mud for soap the sun to dry -
A well planned lie to stay us,
And dust well rubbed on neck and face
Lest cleanliness betray us.
And you'll remember farmer Kutz -
Though scarcely for his bounty -
He leased a forty-acre block,
And thought he owned the county;
A farmer of the old world school,
That grew men hard and grim in,
He drew his water from the pool
That we preferred to swim in.
And do you mind when down the creek
His angry way he wended,
A green-hide cartwhip in his hand
For our young backs intended?
Three naked boys upon the sand -
Half buried and half sunning -
Three startled boys without their clothes
Across the paddocks running.
We've had some scares, but we looked blank
When, resting there and chumming,
One glanced by chance upon the bank
And saw the farmer coming!
And home inmpressions linger yet
Of cups of sorrow brimming;
I hardly think that we'll forget
The last day we went swimming.
Scheme | ABABCBCB DEDEXFXF XEXEDGDG XCHXHBXB IBIBJBJB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (28%) |
Metre | 01010101 1101010 01011111 1111110 0101001 01110 11010111 0111010 01110111 1101110 01110101 0101110 11110111 0111111 01111101 1100011 01010101 1101110 11010101 0111010 01010111 1111010 11110101 1101110 01111101 110111 0111011 11011010 11010101 1100110 11010111 010110 11111111 110101 11110101 0101010 011101 1111010 11011101 0111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,284 |
Words | 250 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 204 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 239 Views
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"The Days when we went Swimming" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17980/the-days-when-we-went-swimming>.
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