Analysis of The Lost Leichardt
Andrew Barton Paterson 1864 (Orange, New South Wales) – 1941 (Sydney, New South Wales)
Another search for Leichhardt's tomb,
Though fifty years have fled
Since Leichhardt vanished in the gloom,
Our one Illustrious Dead!
But daring men from Britain's shore,
The fearless bulldog breed,
Renew the fearful task once more,
Determined to succeed.
Rash men, that know not what they seek,
Will find their courage tried.
For things have changed on Cooper's Creek
Since Ludwig Leichhardt died.
Along where Leichhardt journeyed slow
And toiled and starved in vain;
These rash excursionists must go
Per Queensland railway train.
Out on those deserts lone and drear
The fierce Australian black
Will say -- "You show it pint o' beer,
It show you Leichhardt track!"
And loud from every squatter's door
Each pioneering swell
Will hear the wild pianos roar
The strains of "Daisy Bell".
The watchers in those forests vast
Will see, at fall of night,
Commercial travellers bounding past
And darting out of sight.
About their path a fearful fate
Will hover always near.
A dreadful scourge that lies in wait --
The Longreach Horehound Beer!
And then, to crown this tale of guilt,
They'll find some scurvy knave,
Regardless of their quest, has built
A pub on Leichhardt's grave!
Ah, yes! Those British pioneers
Had best at home abide,
For things have changed in fifty years
Since Ludwig Leichhardt died.
Scheme | ababcdcd efeF ghgh ciji ckck lmlm njnj opop qfqF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (35%) |
Metre | 0101111 110111 1110001 10101001 11011101 01011 01010111 010101 11111111 111101 11111101 11011 0111101 010101 11111 1111 11110101 010101 11111111 11111 01110011 10101 11010101 011101 01001101 111111 010100101 010111 01110101 11011 01011101 0111 01111111 11111 01011111 01111 1111001 111101 11110101 11011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,303 |
Words | 219 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 101 Views
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"The Lost Leichardt" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2657/the-lost-leichardt>.
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