Analysis of Memories of a Childhood
This old house stands tall in treetops grand,
with its ankles soaked in Queensland sand.
When rains do fall, as heavy they sheet,
the shutters rattle flung from their feet.
Fans push the air like helicopters
landing in every room as night leers,
and crickets, cicadas and geckos
wiggling like worms on walls and windows.
I hang out the washing in dim light
of the evening breeze with touch at night,
and take out the bins before the toads
jump and play dare devils on the roads.
We hear them popping as cars race by
and can only squirm as each toad dies.
The red backs then take turns to invade
our clothing, bikes, toilets and sunshade.
The memories of those mozzies loud,
like a terrifying, noisy cloud
that sting relentlessly all summer –
oh, how we yearn for cooler winter.
On really hot days the hose comes out,
a welcome treat from the heat, no doubt,
but alas our feet, pricked viciously
from dozens of tiny grass bindi.
But we eat what our garden can grow
including roos and foxes you know,
that keep the wolf from the door for sure,
even if their taste is like manure.
I like the black cockatoos who watch
with a keenness in their headdresses –
a flaming orange sight to witness;
their fierceness like strutting, winged warriors.
Scheme | AABB CCDD EEFF XXXA GGHH IIXA JJKK XXXC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (63%) |
Metre | 11111011 11101011 111111011 010101111 11011100 1001001111 010010010 1001111010 111010011 101011111 011010101 101110101 111101111 011011111 011111101 101011001 01001111 10100101 110100110 111111010 110110111 010110111 1011011100 11011011 1111101011 010101011 110110111 101111101 11011011 1010110 010101110 111101100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,249 |
Words | 251 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 123 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
About this poem
I wonder if young children today, growing up in Queensland would have the same memories. These were family times!
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"Memories of a Childhood" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/185280/memories-of-a-childhood>.
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