The Man From Snowy River Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABABCACA DEDEAFAF AAAAAAAA BABAAAAA AGAGHIHI JKJKALAL MNMNOAOA PAPABABA QRQRASAS AAAAAAAA TATA AUAU HPHPAVAV WAWABABA

oundA
That the colt from old Regret had got awayB
And had joined the wild bush horses he was worth a thousand poundA
So all the cracks had gathered to the frayB
All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and farC
Had mustered at the homestead overnightA
For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses areC
And the stock horse snuffs the battle with delightA
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There was Harrison who made his pile when Pardon won the cupD
The old man with his hair as white as snowE
But few could ride beside him when his blood was fairly upD
He would go wherever horse and man could goE
And Clancy of the Overflow came down to lend a handA
No better horseman ever held the reinsF
For never horse could throw him while the saddle girths would standA
He learnt to ride while droving on the plainsF
-
And one was there a stripling on a small and weedy beastA
He was something like a racehorse undersizedA
With a touch of Timor pony three parts thoroughbred at leastA
And such as are by mountain horsemen prizedA
He was hard and tough and wiry just the sort that won't say dieA
There was courage in his quick impatient treadA
And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eyeA
And the proud and lofty carriage of his headA
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But so slight and weedy one would doubt his power to stayB
And the old man said That horse will never doA
For a long and tiring gallop lad you'd better stop awayB
Those hills are far too rough for such as youA
So he waited sad and wistful only Clancy stood his friendA
I think we ought to let him come he saidA
I warrant he'll be with us when he's wanted at the endA
For both his horse and he are mountain bredA
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He hails from Snowy River up by Kosciusko's sideA
Where the hills are twice as steep and twice as roughG
Where a horse's hoofs strike firelight from the flint stones every strideA
The man that holds his own is good enoughG
And the Snowy River riders on the mountains make their homeH
Where the river runs those giant hills betweenI
I have seen full many horsemen since I first commenced to roamH
But nowhere yet such horsemen have I seenI
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So he went they found the horses by the big mimosa clumpJ
They raced away towards the mountain's browK
And the old man gave his orders Boys go at them from the jumpJ
No use to try for fancy riding nowK
And Clancy you must wheel them try and wheel them to the rightA
Ride boldly lad and never fear the spillsL
For never yet was rider that could keep the mob in sightA
If once they gain the shelter of those hillsL
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So Clancy rode to wheel them he was racing on the wingM
Where the best and boldest riders take their placeN
And he raced his stockhorse past them and he made the ranges ringM
With stockwhip as he met them face to faceN
Then they halted for a moment while he swung the dreaded lashO
But they saw their well loved mountain full in viewA
And they charged beneath the stockwhip with a sharp and sudden dashO
And off into the mountain scrub they flewA
-
Then fast the horsemen followed where the gorges deep and blackP
Resounded to the thunder of their treadA
And the stockwhips woke the echoes and they fiercely answered backP
From cliffs and crags that beetled overheadA
And upward ever upward the wild horses held their swayB
Were mountain ash and kurrajong grew wideA
And the old man muttered fiercely We may bid the mob good dayB
No man can hold them down the other sideA
-
When they reached the mountain's summit even Clancy took a pullQ
It well might make the boldest hold their breathR
The wild hop scrub grew thickly and the hidden ground was fullQ
Of wombat holes and any slip was deathR
But the man from Snowy River let the pony have his headA
And he swung his stockwhip round and gave a cheerS
And he raced him down the mountain like a torrent down its bedA
While the others stood and watched in very fearS
-
He sent the flint stones flying but the pony kept his feetA
He cleared the fallen timbers in his strideA
And the man from Snowy River never shifted in his seatA
It was grand to see that mountain horseman rideA
Through the stringybarks and saplings on the rough and broken groundA
Down the hillside at a racing pace he wentA
And he never drew the bridle till he landed safe and soundA
At the bottom of that terrible descentA
-
He was right among the horses as they climbed the further hillT
And the watchers on the mountain standing muteA
Saw him ply the stockwhip fiercely he was right among them stillT
As he raced across the clearing in pursuitA
-
Then they lost him for a moment where two mountain gullies metA
In the ranges but a final glimpse revealsU
On a dim and distant hillside the wild horses racing yetA
With the man from Snowy River at their heelsU
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And he ran them single handed till their sides were white with foamH
He followed like a bloodhound in their trackP
Till they halted cowed and beaten then he turned their heads for homeH
And alone and unassisted brought them backP
But his hardy mountain pony he could scarcely raise a trotA
He was blood from hip to shoulder from the spurV
But his pluck was still undaunted and his courage fiery hotA
For never yet was mountain horse a curV
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And down by Kosciusko where the pine clad ridges raiseW
Their torn and rugged battlements on highA
Where the air is clear as crystal and the white stars fairly blazeW
At midnight in the cold and frosty skyA
And where around The Overflow the reed beds sweep and swayB
To the breezes and the rolling plains are wideA
The man from Snowy River is a household word todayB
And the stockmen tell the story of his rideA

Banjo Paterson



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