Analysis of The Seabolt's Volunteers
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
They towed the Seabolt down the stream,
And through the harbour’s mouth;
She spread her wings and sailed away
To seek the sunny South.
But, ah! she met with storm on storm
Ere half her course had run;
And all her masts were torn away,
And all her boats save one.
The good old ship had settled far
Beneath her cargo line,
Her riven sides were drinking deep
The draughts of ocean brine.
There gathered round the only boat
The women pale with fear,
And trembling little ones, who clung
To those who held them dear.
Then spoke the captain, brave and true,
His voice rose o’er the roar;
“The boat will save us all but five,
She cannot float with more!”
And backward from the side he stepped—
(He had been born at sea)
“Now who will seek in ocean’s depths
A sailor’s grave with me?”
Then up there stepped a merchant stout,
His face was brown and tan:
“I’ll volunteer to stay on board,
For I’m an Englishman!”
Then spoke a gallant gentleman,
A lover of romance:
“Remain I for the ladies’ sake,
For I’m a son of France!”
And next there spoke a Highlander:
“Go search the wide world round,
You’ll find no spot where on the earth
A Scotsman is not found!”
And then there spoke a lad to whom
Killarney’s lakes were dear:
“It won’t be said that Ireland found
No place of honour here!”
The boat pushed from the vessel’s side
Amid the ringing cheers;
And now beneath Old Ocean sleep
The Seabolt’s volunteers.
Scheme | XABA XCBC XDED XFXF XGXG XHXH XXXC CIXI XJXJ XFJX XKEK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (82%) |
Metre | 1101101 01011 11010101 110101 11111111 110111 01010101 010111 01111101 01011 01010101 011101 11010101 010111 010010111 111111 11010101 111101 01111111 110111 01010111 111111 11110101 010111 11110101 111101 1011111 111100 11010100 010101 01110101 110111 0111010 110111 11111101 010111 01110111 1101 111111001 11111 01110101 010101 01011101 0101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,411 |
Words | 268 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 98 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 18, 2023
- 1:20 min read
- 84 Views
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"The Seabolt's Volunteers" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18083/the-seabolt%27s-volunteers>.
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