Analysis of Bourke's Dream
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
Lonely and sadly one night in November
I laid down my weary head in search of repose
On my wallet of straw, which I long shall remember,
Tired and weary I fell into a doze.
Tired from working hard
Down in the labour yard,
Night brought relief to my sad, aching brain.
Locked in my prison cell,
Surely an earthly hell,
I fell asleep and began for to dream.
I dreamt that I stood on the green fields of Erin,
In joyous meditation that victory was won.
Surrounded by comrades, no enemy fearing.
"Stand," was the cry, "every man to his gun."
On came the Saxons then
Fighting our Fenian men,
Soon they'll reel back from our piked volunteers.
Loud was the fight and shrill,
Wexford and Vinegar Hill,
Three cheers for Father Murphy and the bold cavaliers.
I dreamt that I saw our gallant commander
Seated on his charger in gorgeous array.
He wore green trimmed with gold and a bright shining sabre
On which sunbeams of Liberty shone brightly that day.
"On," was the battle cry,
"Conquer this day or die,
Sons of Hibernia, fight for Liberty!
Show neither fear nor dread,
Strike at the foeman's head,
Cut down horse, foot, and artillery!"
I dreamt that the night was quickly advancing,
I saw the dead and dying on the green crimson plain.
Comrades I once knew well in death's sleep reposing,
Friends that I once loved but shall ne'er see again.
The green flag was waving high,
Under the bright blue sky,
And each man was singing most gloriously.
"Come from your prison, Bourke,
We Irishmen have done our work,
God has been with us, and old Ireland is free."
I dreamt I was homeward, back over the mountain track,
With joy my mother fainted and gave a loud scream.
With the shock I awoke, just as the day had broke,
And found myself an exile, and 'twas all but a dream.
Scheme | ABABCCDEEF XGHGIIJKKJ ALALMMNOONHDHIMMNPPN XFXF |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10010110010 111110101101 1110111111010 10010110101 101101 10011 1101111101 101101 101101 1101001111 111111011110 010010110011 01011110010 11011001111 110101 10101001 1111110101 110101 101001 111101000101 111111010010 10111001001 1111110011010 111110011011 110101 101111 1110011100 110111 11011 111100100 11101110010 1101010101101 111110111 11111111101 0111101 100111 01111011000 111101 1111101 111110110011 1111101100101 111101001011 101101110111 01111011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,724 |
Words | 331 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 20, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 342 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 81 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:39 min read
- 32 Views
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"Bourke's Dream" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2501/bourke%27s-dream>.
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