Black Swans Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCCCBADADCCCD EFEFAAAF CGCGCCCG HIHICCCI ADADEEED IIIICCCI AJAJHKHJ| As I lie at rest on a patch of clover | A |
| In the Western Park when the day is done | B |
| I watch as the wild black swans fly over | A |
| With their phalanx turned to the sinking sun | B |
| And I hear the clang of their leader crying | C |
| To a lagging mate in the rearward flying | C |
| And they fade away in the darkness dying | C |
| Where the stars are mustering one by one | B |
| O ye wild black swans 'twere a world of wonder | A |
| For a while to join in your westward flight | D |
| With the stars above and the dim earth under | A |
| Trough the cooling air of the glorious night | D |
| As we swept along on our pinions winging | C |
| We should catch the chime of a church bell ringing | C |
| Or the distant note of a torrent singing | C |
| Or the far off flash of a station light | D |
| - | |
| From the northern lakes with the reeds and rushes | E |
| Where the hills are clothed with a purple haze | F |
| Where the bell birds chime and the songs of thrushes | E |
| Make music sweet in the jungle maze | F |
| They will hold their course to the westward ever | A |
| Till they reach the banks of the old grey river | A |
| Where the waters wash and the reed beds quiver | A |
| In the burning heat of the summer days | F |
| - | |
| O ye strange wild birds will ye bear a greeting | C |
| To the folk that live in that western land | G |
| Then for every sweep of your pinions beating | C |
| Ye shall bear a wish to the sunburnt band | G |
| To the stalwart men who are stoutly fighting | C |
| With the heat and drought and the dust storm smiting | C |
| Yet whose life somehow has a strong inviting | C |
| When once to the work they have put their hand | G |
| - | |
| Facing it yet O my friend stout hearted | H |
| What does it matter for rain or shine | I |
| For the hopes deferred and the grain departed | H |
| Nothing could conquer that heart of thine | I |
| And thy health and strength are beyond confessing | C |
| As the only joys that are worth possessing | C |
| May the days to come be as rich in blessing | C |
| As the days we spent in the auld lang syne | I |
| - | |
| I would fain go back to the old grey river | A |
| To the old bush days when our hearts were light | D |
| But alas those days they have fled for ever | A |
| They are like the swans that have swept from sight | D |
| And I know full well that the strangers' faces | E |
| Would meet us now is our dearest places | E |
| For our day is dead and has left no traces | E |
| But the thoughts that live in my mind to night | D |
| - | |
| There are folk long dead and our hearts would sicken | I |
| We should grieve for them with a bitter pain | I |
| If the past could live and the dead could quicken | I |
| We then might turn to that life again | I |
| But on lonely nights we should hear them calling | C |
| We should hear their steps on the pathways falling | C |
| We should loathe the life with a hate appalling | C |
| In our lonely rides by the ridge and plain | I |
| - | |
| In the silent park a scent of clover | A |
| And the distant roar of the town is dead | J |
| And I hear once more as the swans fly over | A |
| Their far off clamour from overhead | J |
| They are flying west by their instinct guided | H |
| And for man likewise is his rate decided | K |
| And griefs apportioned and joys divided | H |
| By a mightly power with a purpose dread | J |
Banjo Paterson
(3)
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About Black Swans
Black Swans is a poem by Banjo Paterson. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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