In The Droving Days Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEEFFGGDD HHDDIIAAJJ KILLMMNN OOFFIIPPJJ QQRRSSTTUUJJ KIRRVVJJ WWIIXXDDYYRRJJ RRRRRRZZ RRA2A2LLB2B2C2C2JJOnly a pound said the auctioneer | A |
Only a pound and I'm standing here | B |
Selling this animal gain or loss | C |
Only a pound for the drover's horse | D |
One of the sort that was ne'er afraid | E |
One of the boys of the Old Brigade | E |
Thoroughly honest and game I'll swear | F |
Only a little the worse for wear | F |
Plenty as bad to be seen in town | G |
Give me a bid and I'll knock him down | G |
Sold as he stands and without recourse | D |
Give me a bid for the drover's horse | D |
- | |
Loitering there in an aimless way | H |
Somehow I noticed the poor old grey | H |
Weary and battered and screwed of course | D |
Yet when I noticed the old grey horse | D |
The rough bush saddle and single rein | I |
Of the bridle laid on his tangled mane | I |
Straighway the crowd and the auctioneer | A |
Seemed on a sudden to disappear | A |
Melted away in a kind if haze | J |
For my heart went back to the droving days | J |
- | |
Back to the road and I crossed again | K |
Over the miles of the saltbush plain | I |
The shining plain that is said to be | L |
The dried up bed of an inland sea | L |
Where the air so dry and so clear and bright | M |
Refracts the sun with a wondrous light | M |
And out in the dim horizon makes | N |
The deep blue gleam of the phantom lakes | N |
- | |
At dawn of day we could feel the breeze | O |
That stirred the boughs of the sleeping trees | O |
And brought a breath of the fragrance rare | F |
That comes and goes in that scented air | F |
For the trees and grass and the shrubs contain | I |
A dry sweet scent on the saltbush plain | I |
for those that love it and understand | P |
The saltbush plain is a wonderland | P |
A wondrous country were Nature's ways | J |
Were revealed to me in the droving days | J |
- | |
We saw the fleet wild horses pass | Q |
And kangaroos through the Mitchell grass | Q |
The emu ran with her frightened brood | R |
All unmolested and unpursued | R |
But there rose a shout and a wild hubbub | S |
When the dingo raced for his native scrub | S |
And he paid right dear for his stolen meals | T |
With the drovers' dogs at his wretched heels | T |
For we ran him down at a rattling pace | U |
While the pack horse joined in the stirring chase | U |
And a wild halloo at the kill we'd raise | J |
We were light of heart in the droving days | J |
- | |
'Twas a drover's horse and my hand again | K |
Made a move to close on a fancied rein | I |
For I felt a swing and the easy stride | R |
Of the grand old horse that I used to ride | R |
In drought or plenty in good or ill | V |
The same old steed was my comrade still | V |
The old grey horse with his honest ways | J |
Was a mate to me in the droving days | J |
- | |
When we kept our watch in the cold and damp | W |
If the cattle broke from the sleeping camp | W |
Over the flats and across the plain | I |
With my head bent down on his waving mane | I |
Through the boughs above and the stumps below | X |
On the darkest night I could let him go | X |
At a racing speed he would choose his course | D |
And my life was safe with the old grey horse | D |
But man and horse had a favourite job | Y |
When an outlaw broke from the station mob | Y |
With a right good will was the stockwhip plied | R |
As the old horse raced at the straggler's side | R |
And the greenhide whip such a weal would raise | J |
We could use the whip in the droving days | J |
- | |
- | |
- | |
Only a pound and was this the end | R |
Only a pound for the drover's friend | R |
The drover's friend that has seen his day | R |
And now was worthless and cast away | R |
With a broken knee and a broken heart | R |
To be flogged and starved in a hawker's cart | R |
Well I made a bid for a sense of shame | Z |
And the memories of the good old game | Z |
- | |
Thank you Guinea and cheap at that | R |
Against you there in the curly hat | R |
Only a guinea and one more chance | A2 |
Down he goes if there's no advance | A2 |
Third and last time one two three | L |
And the old grey horse was knocked down to me | L |
And now he's wandering fat and sleek | B2 |
On the lucerne flats by the Homestead Creek | B2 |
I dare not ride him for fear he's fall | C2 |
But he does a journey to beat them all | C2 |
For though he scarcely a trot can raise | J |
He can take me back to the droving days | J |
Banjo Paterson (andrew Barton)
(1)
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