Analysis of The Hartley Calamity

Joseph Skipsey 1832 (Northumberland) – 1903 (Gateshead)



The Hartley men are noble, and
Ye'll hear a tale of woe;
I'll tell the doom of the Hartley men -
The year of sixty two.

'Twas on the Thursday morning, on
The first month of the year,
When there befell the thing that well
May rend the heart to hear.

Ere chanticleer with music rare
Awakes the old homestead,
The Hartley men are up and off
To earn their daily bread.

On, on they toil; with heat they broil,
And streams of sweat still glue
The stour unto their skins, till they
Are black as the coal they hew.

Now to and fro the putters go,
The waggons to and fro,
And clang on clang the wheel and hoof
Ring in the mine below.

The din and strife of human life.
Awake in 'wall' and 'board',
When, lo! a shock is felt which makes
Each human heart-beat heard.

Each bosom thuds, as each his duds
He snatches and away,
And to the distant shaft he flees
With all the speed he may.

Each, all, they flee -- by two -- by three
They seek the shaft, to seek
An answer in each other's face,
To what they may not speak.

"Are we entombed?" they seem to ask,
For the shaft is closed, and no
Escape have they to God's bright day
From out the night below.

So stand in pain the Hartley men,
And o'er them speedily comes
The memory of home and all
That links us to our homes.

Despair at length renews their strength,
And they the shaft must clear,
And soon the sound of mall and pick,
Half drowns the voice of fear.

And hark! to the blow of the mal below
Do the sounds above reply?
Hurra, hurra, for the Hartley men,
For now their rescue's nigh.

Their rescue nigh? The sound of joy
And hope have ceased, and ere
A breath is drawn a rumble heard
Re-drives them to despair.

Together now behold them bow;
Their burden'd souls unload
In cries that never rise in vain
Unto the living God.

Whilst yet they kneel, again they fell
Their strength renewed -- again
The swing and the ring of the mall attests
The might of the Hartley men.

And hark! to the blow of the mall below,
Do sounds above reply?
Hurra, hurra, for the Hartley men,
For now their rescue's nigh.

But lo! yon light, erewhile so bright
No longer lights the scene;
A cloud of mist yon light has kiss'd
And shorn it of its sheen.

A cloud of mist yon light has kiss'd,
See! how long it steels,
Till one by one the lights are smote,
And deep the doom prevails.

"Oh, father, till the shaft is rid,
Close, close besides me keep;
My eyelids are together glued,
And I -- and I -- must sleep".

Sleep, darling, sleep, and I will keep
Close by -- heigh-ho!" To keep
Himself awake the father strives --
But he -- he too -- must sleep."

"O, brother, till the shaft is rid,
Close, close besides me keep;
My eyelids are together glued,
And I -- and I -- must sleep."

Sleep, brother, sleep and I will keep
Close by -- heigh-ho! To keep
Half awake the brother strives --
But he -- he too must sleep.

"O mother, dear! wert, wert thou near
Whilst sleep!" And the orphan slept;
And all night long by the black pit heap
The mother a dumb watch kept

And fathers, and mothers, and sisters, and brothers,
The lover and the new-made bride --
A vigil kept for those who slept,
From eve to morning tide.

But they slept -- still -- in silence dread,
Two hundred old and young,
To awake when heaven and earth have sped
And the last dread trumpet rung.


Scheme abcd xefx ghxh xdid bbxb xxxj xixi xkxk xbib cxxx xexe blCL xgjg bxxx fcxc blCL xmNm Nxax oPQP pPrp oPQP pPrp esps xtst huhu
Poetic Form
Metre 01011100 110111 110110101 011101 1101101 011101 11010111 110111 111101 1011 01011101 111101 11111111 011111 01101111 1110111 11010101 01101 01110101 100101 01011101 010101 11011111 110111 11011111 110001 01010111 110111 11111111 110111 11001101 111111 11011111 1011101 01111111 110101 11010101 01011001 01001101 1111101 01110111 010111 01011101 110111 0110110101 1010101 1110101 11111 11010111 011101 01110101 111101 01010111 110101 01110101 100101 11110111 110101 0100110101 0110101 0110110101 110101 1110101 11111 1111111 110101 01111111 011111 01111111 11111 11110111 010101 11010111 110111 1110101 010111 11010111 111111 01010101 111111 11010111 110111 1110101 010111 11010111 111111 1010101 111111 11011111 1100101 011110111 0100111 010010010010 01000111 01011111 111101 11110101 110101 1011100111 0011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 3,168
Words 642
Sentences 39
Stanzas 25
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 100
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 98
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 10, 2023

3:14 min read
80

Joseph Skipsey

Joseph Skipsey was a Northumberland born poet and songwriter in the middle and late 19th century. more…

All Joseph Skipsey poems | Joseph Skipsey Books

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