Analysis of The Men We Might Have Been
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
When God's wrath-cloud is o'er me,
Affrighting heart and mind;
When days seem dark before me,
And days seem black behind;
Those friends who think they know me --
Who deem their insight keen --
They ne'er forget to show me
The man I might have been.
He's rich and independent,
Or rising fast to fame;
His bright star is ascendant,
The country knows his name;
His houses and his gardens
Are splendid to be seen;
His fault the wise world pardons --
The man I might have been.
His fame and fortune haunt me;
His virtues wave me back;
His name and prestige daunt me
When I would take the track;
But you, my friend true-hearted --
God keep our friendship green! --
You know how I was parted
From all I might have been.
But what avails the ache of
Remorse or weak regret?
We'll battle for the sake of
The men we might be yet!
We'll strive to keep in sight of
The brave, the true, and clean,
And triumph yet in spite of
The men we might have been.
Scheme | ababacaD efefgcgD ahahicid jkjkjcjd |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111101 1101 1111011 011101 1111111 11111 1101111 011111 110010 110111 1111010 010111 1100110 110111 1101110 011111 1101011 110111 1100111 111101 1111110 1110101 1111110 111111 111011 011101 1101011 011111 1111011 010101 0101011 011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 947 |
Words | 185 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 179 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 13, 2023
- 57 sec read
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"The Men We Might Have Been" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18042/the-men-we-might-have-been>.
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