Analysis of Down the River
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
I’VE done with joys an’ misery,
An’ why should I repine?
There’s no one knows the past but me
An’ that ol’ dog o’ mine.
We camp an’ walk an’ camp an’ walk,
An’ find it fairly good;
He can do anything but talk,
An’ he wouldn’t if he could.
We sits an’ thinks beside the fire,
With all the stars a-shine,
An’ no one knows our thoughts but me
An’ that there dog o’ mine.
We has our Johnny-cake an’ “scrag,”
An’ finds ’em fairly good;
He can do anything but talk,
An’ he wouldn’t if he could.
He gets a ’possum now an’ then,
I cooks it on the fire;
He has his water, me my tea—
What more could we desire?
He gets a rabbit when he likes,
We finds it pretty good;
He can do anything but talk,
An’ he wouldn’t if he could.
I has me smoke, he has his rest,
When sunset’s gettin’ dim;
An’ if I do get drunk at times,
It’s all the same to him.
So long’s he’s got me swag to mind,
He thinks that times is good;
He can do anything but talk,
An’ he wouldn’t if he could.
He gets his tucker from the cook,
For cook is good to him,
An’ when I sobers up a bit,
He goes an’ has a swim.
He likes the rivers where I fish,
An’ all the world is good;
He can do anything but talk,
An’ he wouldn’t if he could.
Scheme | ababcdCD ebabcdCD beaexdCD xfxfxdCD xfxfxdCD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (35%) |
Metre | 11111100 11111 11110111 111111 11111111 111101 1111011 111111 111101010 110101 111110111 111111 111010111 111101 1111011 111111 11010111 1111010 11110111 1111010 11010111 111101 1111011 111111 11111111 1111 11111111 110111 11111111 111111 1111011 111111 11110101 111111 11110101 111101 11010111 110111 1111011 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,240 |
Words | 254 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 171 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 142 Views
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"Down the River" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17782/down-the-river>.
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