Analysis of Trooper Campbell




One day old Trooper Campbell
 Rode out to Blackman's Run,
His cap-peak and his sabre
 Were glancing in the sun.
'Twas New Year's Eve, and slowly
 Across the ridges low
The sad Old Year was drifting
 To where the old years go.

The trooper's mind was reading
 The love-page of his life --
His love for Mary Wylie
 Ere she was Blackman's wife;
He sorrowed for the sorrows
 Of the heart a rival won,
For he knew that there was trouble
 Out there on Blackman's Run.

The sapling shades had lengthened,
 The summer day was late,
When Blackman met the trooper
 Beyond the homestead gate.
And if the hand of trouble
 Can leave a lasting trace,
The lines of care had come to stay
 On poor old Blackman's face.

`Not good day, Trooper Campbell,
 It's a bad, bad day for me --
You are of all the men on earth
 The one I wished to see.
The great black clouds of trouble
 Above our homestead hang;
That wild and reckless boy of mine
 Has joined M'Durmer's gang.

`Oh! save him, save him, Campbell!
 I beg in friendship's name!
For if they take and hang him,
 The wife would die of shame.
Could Mary or her sisters
 Hold up their heads again,
And face a woman's malice
 Or claim the love of men?

`And if he does a murder
 'Twere better we were dead.
Don't take him, Trooper Campbell,
 If a price be on his head;
But shoot him! shoot him, Campbell,
 When you meet him face to face,
And save him from the gallows,
 And us from that disgrace.'

`Now, Tom,' cried Trooper Campbell,
 `You know your words are wild.
Though he is wild and reckless,
 Yet still he is your child;
So bear up in your trouble,
 And meet it like a man,
And tell the wife and daughters
 I'll save him if I can.'

The sad Australian sunset
 Had faded from the west;
But night brings darker shadows
 To hearts that cannot rest;
And Blackman's wife sat rocking
 And moaning in her chair.
`I cannot bear disgrace,' she moaned;
 `Disgrace I cannot bear.

`In hardship and in trouble
 I struggled year by year
To make my children better
 Than other children here.
And if my son's a felon
 How can I show my face?
I cannot bear disgrace; my God,
 I cannot bear disgrace!

`Ah, God in Heaven pardon!
 I'm selfish in my woe --
My boy is better-hearted
 Than many that I know.
And I will face the world's disgrace,
 And, till his mother's dead,
My foolish child shall find a place
 To lay his outlawed head.'

With a sad heart Trooper Campbell
 Rode back from Blackman's Run,
Nor noticed aught about him
 Till thirteen miles were done;
When, close beside a cutting,
 He heard the click of locks,
And saw the rifle muzzles
 Were on him from the rocks.

But suddenly a youth rode out,
 And, close by Campbell's side:
`Don't fire! don't fire, in heaven's name!
 It's Campbell, boys!' he cried.
Then one by one in silence
 The levelled rifles fell,
For who'd shoot Trooper Campbell
 Of those who knew him well?

Oh, bravely sat old Campbell,
 No sign of fear showed he.
He slowly drew his carbine;
 It rested by his knee.
The outlaws' guns were lifted,
 But none the silence broke,
Till steadfastly and firmly
 Old Trooper Campbell spoke.

`That boy that you would ruin
 Goes home with me, my men;
Or some of us shall never
 Ride through the Gap again.
You know old Trooper Campbell,
 And have you ever heard
That bluff or lead could turn him,
 That e'er he broke his word?

`That reckless lad is playing
 A heartless villain's part;
He knows that he is breaking
 His poor old mother's heart.
He'll bring a curse upon himself;
 But 'tis not that alone,
He'll bring dishonour to a name
 That I'D be proud to own.

`I speak to you, M'Durmer, --
 If your heart's not hardened quite,
And if you'd seen the trouble
 At Blackman's home this night,
You'd help me now, M'Durmer --
 I speak as man to man --
I swore to save that foolish lad,
 And I'll save him if I can.'

`Oh, take him!' said M'Durmer,
 `He's got a horse to ride.'
The youngster thought a moment,
 Then rode to Campbell's side --
`Good-bye!' the outlaws shouted,
 As up the range they sped.
`A Merry New Year, C


Scheme ABCBDEFE FGDGHBAB XICIAJXJ ADXDAKLK AMNMOPQP CRARAJHJ ASQSATOT XUHUFVXV AXCXBJXJ BEWEJRJR ABNBFXXX XYMYXZAZ ADLDW1 D1 BPCPA2 N2 F3 F3 X4 M4 C5 A5 CTXT CYXYWRD
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010 11111 1110110 010001 1111010 010101 0111110 110111 0101110 011111 1111010 11111 111010 1010101 11111110 11111 0101110 010111 1101010 01011 0101110 110101 01111111 11111 1111010 1011111 11110111 011111 0111110 011011 11010111 1111 1111110 11011 1111011 011111 1101010 111101 0101010 110111 0111010 110101 1111010 1011111 1111110 1111111 0111010 011101 1111010 111111 1111010 111111 1110110 011101 0101010 111111 010101 110101 111101 111101 011110 010001 11010111 011101 0100010 110111 1111010 110101 0111010 111111 11010111 110101 1101010 110011 1111010 110111 01110101 011101 11011101 11111 10111010 11111 1101011 111101 1101010 110111 0101010 011101 11000111 011101 1101100101 110111 1111010 010101 1111010 111111 1101110 111111 110111 110111 011010 110101 110010 110101 1111110 111111 1111110 110101 1111010 011101 1111111 1101111 1101110 01011 1111110 111101 11010101 111101 111101 111111 11111 1111101 0111010 11111 11111 111111 11111101 0111111 11111 110111 0101010 111101 110110 110111 010111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 4,070
Words 752
Sentences 54
Stanzas 17
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7
Lines Amount 135
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 177
Words per stanza (avg) 44
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 30, 2023

3:55 min read
80

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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