Analysis of BillJim

Edward George Dyson 1865 (Ballarat, Victoria) – 1931 (Saint Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria)



Down to it is Plugger Bill,
Lyin' crumpled, white 'n' still.
Me 'n' him
Chips in when the scrap begins,
Carin' nothin' for our skins,
Chi-iked as the 'Eavenly Twins-
Bill 'n' Jim.

They 'ave outed Bill at last,
Slugged me cobber hard 'n' fast.
It's a kill.
See the purple of his lip
'N' the red 'n' oozy drip!
Ends our great ole partnership-
Jim 'n' Bill

Mates we was when we was kids;
Camp, 'n' ship, 'n' Pyramids,
Him 'n' me
Hung together, 'n' we tore
Up the heights from Helles shore,
Bill a long 'arf head afore,
Fine to see!

Then it was we took a touch-
Simple puncture, nothin' much;
But we lay
'N' we stays the count, it seems,
In a sorter realm of dreams
Where the sun infernal gleams
Night 'n' day;

Boilin', fryin' achin', dumb,
Waitin' till the stretchers come,
Patiently.
I hangs on to 'arf a cup.
Which I wants ole Bill to sup.
Damn if he ain't savin' up
His for me!

When they come to lift my head
I am softly kiddin' dead,
For a game,
So's they'll first take on his gills.
Over, though, me scheme he spills-
Bli'me, this ole take-down Bill's
Done the same!

But he isn't kiddin' now,
And it knocks me anyhow
Seein' him.
We was both agreed before,
Though it got 'em by the score,
Two was goin' to beat this war-
But 'n' Jim.

Mate o' mine, yiv stayed it through.
Hard luck, Bill-for me 'n' you
Hard 'n' grim.
They have got me Cobber true,
But I'm stickin' tight ez glue….
Bill, there's one who'll plug for two-
It is Jim!


Scheme AABCCCB DDAEEEA FFGHHHG IIJKKKJ LLGMMMG NNOPPPO QQBHHHB RRBRRRB
Poetic Form Burns stanza  (88%)
Metre 111111 110111 111 1010101 10101101 111011 111 1110111 111111 101 1010111 101111 1101110 111 1111111 1111100 111 1010111 101111 101111 111 1111101 1010101 111 1110111 0010111 1010101 111 1111 110101 100 1111101 1111111 1111101 111 1111111 111011 101 1111111 1011111 111111 101 111011 011110 11 1110101 1111101 1111111 111 1111111 1111111 111 111111 111111 1111111 111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,440
Words 281
Sentences 19
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7
Lines Amount 56
Letters per line (avg) 18
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 129
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:27 min read
37

Edward George Dyson

Edward George Dyson, or 'Ted' Dyson, was an Australian journalist, poet, playwright and short story writer. He was the elder brother of illustrators Will Dyson (1880–1938) and Ambrose Dyson (1876–1913), with three sisters also of artistic and literary praise. Dyson wrote under several – some say many – nom-de-plumes, including Silas Snell. In his day, the period of Australia's federation, the poet and writer was 'ranked very closely to Australia's greatest short-story writer, Henry Lawson'. With Lawson known as the 'swagman poet', Ogilvie the 'horseman poet', Dyson was the 'mining poet'. Although known as a freelance writer, he was also considered part of The Bulletin writer group. more…

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