Fall In, My Men, Fall In

Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)



The short hour's halt is ended,
The red gone from the west,
The broken wheel is mended,
And the dead men laid to rest.
Three days have we retreated
The brave old Curse-and-Grin –
Outnumbered and defeated
Fall in, my men, fall in.

Poor weary, hungry sinners,
Past caring and past fear,
The camp-fires of the winners
Are gleaming in the rear.
Each day their front advances,
Each day the same old din,
But freedom holds the chances
Fall in, my men, fall in.

Despair's cold fingers searches
The sky is black ahead,
We leave in barns and churches
Our wounded and our dead.
Through cold and rain and darkness
And mire that clogs like sin,
In failure in its starkness
Fall in, my men, fall in.

We go and know not whither,
Nor see the tracks we go –
A horseman gaunt shall tell us,
A rain-veiled light shall show.
By wood and swamp and mountain,
The long dark hours begin –
Before our fresh wounds stiffen
Fall in, my men, fall in.

With old wounds dully aching
Fall in, my men, fall in –
See yonder starlight breaking
Through rifts where storm clouds thin!
See yonder clear sky arching
The distant range upon?
I'll plan while we are marching
Move on, my men - march on!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:08 min read
91

Quick analysis:

Scheme abxbacaC dedefcfC xgfghcxC xihijcjC kCkcklkl
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,201
Words 226
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson 17 June 1867 - 2 September 1922 was an Australian writer and poet Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period more…

All Henry Lawson poems | Henry Lawson Books

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