Analysis of Watching The Crows
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
A bushman got lost in a scrub in the North,
And all the long morning the searchers went forth.
They swore at the rain that had washed out the tracks
And left not a trace for the eyes of the blacks;
But, trusting the signs that the blackfellow knows,
A quiet old darkey stood watching the crows.
The solemn old blackman stood silently by;
He stood like a statue, his face to the sky.
Black Billy was out of the bearings—we thought—
If he looked above for the bushman we sought;
For we rather suspected the spirit would go
In—well, quite another direction, you know.
Most bushmen on solemn occasions will joke,
And unto Black Bill ’twas the super who spoke.
He asked, as he cocked his red nose in the air—
“You think it old Harrison sit down up there?”
“I’m watching the crows. Where the white man lies dead
The crows will fly over,” the blackfellow said.
The blackfellow died, and long years have gone round
Since the day when old Harrison’s body was found;
But still do I see, in my vision at night,
A faint figure come like a shadow in sight,
And nearer and nearer it comes till it grows
Like the form of that blackfellow—“watching the crows”.
Scheme | AABBCC DDEEFF GGHHII JJKKCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011001001 01011001011 11101111101 01101101101 110011011 0101111001 01011011001 1110111101 11011101011 11101101011 111001001011 01101001011 11011001011 01011101011 11111111001 11111001111 11001101111 011110011 011011111 1011111011 11111011011 0110110101 01001011111 1011111001 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,157 |
Words | 217 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 223 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 53 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 41 Views
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