Analysis of Hawker, the Standard Bearer
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
The grey gull sat on a floating whale,
On a floating whale sat he,
And he told his tale of the storm and the gale,
And the ships that he saw with steam and sail,
As he flew by the Northern Sea.
"I have seen a sign that is strange and new,
That I never before did see:
A flying ship that roared as it flew,
The storm and the tempest driving through,
It carried a flag and it carried a crew,
Now what would that be?" said he.
"And the flag was a Jack with stars displayed,
A flag that is new to me;
For it does not ply in the Northern trade,
But it drove through the storm-wrack unafraid,
Now, what is that flag?" said he.
"I have seen that flag that is starred with white,"
Said a southern gull, said he,
"And saw it fly in a bloody fight,
When the raider Emden turned in flight,
And crashed on the Cocos lee."
"And who are these folk whose flag is first
Of all the flags that fly
To dare the storm and the fog accurst,
Of the great North Sea where the bergs are nursed,
And the Northern Lights ride high?"
"The Australian folk," said a lone sea-mew,
"The Australian flag," said he.
"It is strange that a folk that is far and few
Should fly their flag where there never flew
Another flag!" said he.
"I have followed their flag in the fields of France,
With its white stars flying free,
And no misfortune and no mischance
Could turn them back from their line of advance,
Or the line that they held," said he.
"Whenever there's ever rule to break,
Wherever they oughtn't to be,
With a death to dare and a risk to take,
A track to find or a way to make,
You will find them there," said he.
"They come from a land that is parched with thirst,
An inland land," said he,
"On risk and danger their breed is nursed,
And thus it happens their flag is first
To fly in the Northern Sea."
"Though Hawker perished, he overcame
The risks of the storm and the sea,
And his name shall be written in stars of flame,
On the topmost walls of the Temple of Fame,
For the rest of the world to see."
Scheme | ABAABCBCCCB DBDDB EBEEB FGDFG CBCCB HBHHB IBIIB FBFFB JBJJB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011110101 1010111 01111101001 0011111101 11110101 1110111101 11100111 010111111 010010101 11001011001 1111111 0011011101 0111111 1111100101 111101101 1111111 1111111111 1010111 011100101 10101101 011011 011111111 110111 11010011 1011110111 0010111 0010110111 0010111 11110111101 111111101 010111 11101100111 1111101 01010011 1111111101 10111111 010110111 01011011 1011100111 011110111 1111111 1110111111 11111 110101111 011101111 1100101 110101101 01101001 01111100111 1011101011 10110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,984 |
Words | 407 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 51 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 167 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:58 min read
- 57 Views
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"Hawker, the Standard Bearer" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2528/hawker%2C-the-standard-bearer>.
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