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 WAWABABAound | A |
That the colt from old Regret had got away | B |
And had joined the wild bush horses he was worth a thousand pound | A |
So all the cracks had gathered to the fray | B |
All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and far | C |
Had mustered at the homestead overnight | A |
For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are | C |
And the stock horse snuffs the battle with delight | A |
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There was Harrison who made his pile when Pardon won the cup | D |
The old man with his hair as white as snow | E |
But few could ride beside him when his blood was fairly up | D |
He would go wherever horse and man could go | E |
And Clancy of the Overflow came down to lend a hand | A |
No better horseman ever held the reins | F |
For never horse could throw him while the saddle girths would stand | A |
He learnt to ride while droving on the plains | F |
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And one was there a stripling on a small and weedy beast | A |
He was something like a racehorse undersized | A |
With a touch of Timor pony three parts thoroughbred at least | A |
And such as are by mountain horsemen prized | A |
He was hard and tough and wiry just the sort that won't say die | A |
There was courage in his quick impatient tread | A |
And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eye | A |
And the proud and lofty carriage of his head | A |
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But so slight and weedy one would doubt his power to stay | B |
And the old man said That horse will never do | A |
For a long and tiring gallop lad you'd better stop away | B |
Those hills are far too rough for such as you | A |
So he waited sad and wistful only Clancy stood his friend | A |
I think we ought to let him come he said | A |
I warrant he'll be with us when he's wanted at the end | A |
For both his horse and he are mountain bred | A |
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He hails from Snowy River up by Kosciusko's side | A |
Where the hills are twice as steep and twice as rough | G |
Where a horse's hoofs strike firelight from the flint stones every stride | A |
The man that holds his own is good enough | G |
And the Snowy River riders on the mountains make their home | H |
Where the river runs those giant hills between | I |
I have seen full many horsemen since I first commenced to roam | H |
But nowhere yet such horsemen have I seen | I |
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So he went they found the horses by the big mimosa clump | J |
They raced away towards the mountain's brow | K |
And the old man gave his orders Boys go at them from the jump | J |
No use to try for fancy riding now | K |
And Clancy you must wheel them try and wheel them to the right | A |
Ride boldly lad and never fear the spills | L |
For never yet was rider that could keep the mob in sight | A |
If once they gain the shelter of those hills | L |
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So Clancy rode to wheel them he was racing on the wing | M |
Where the best and boldest riders take their place | N |
And he raced his stockhorse past them and he made the ranges ring | M |
With stockwhip as he met them face to face | N |
Then they halted for a moment while he swung the dreaded lash | O |
But they saw their well loved mountain full in view | A |
And they charged beneath the stockwhip with a sharp and sudden dash | O |
And off into the mountain scrub they flew | A |
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Then fast the horsemen followed where the gorges deep and black | P |
Resounded to the thunder of their tread | A |
And the stockwhips woke the echoes and they fiercely answered back | P |
From cliffs and crags that beetled overhead | A |
And upward ever upward the wild horses held their sway | B |
Were mountain ash and kurrajong grew wide | A |
And the old man muttered fiercely We may bid the mob good day | B |
No man can hold them down the other side | A |
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When they reached the mountain's summit even Clancy took a pull | Q |
It well might make the boldest hold their breath | R |
The wild hop scrub grew thickly and the hidden ground was full | Q |
Of wombat holes and any slip was death | R |
But the man from Snowy River let the pony have his head | A |
And he swung his stockwhip round and gave a cheer | S |
And he raced him down the mountain like a torrent down its bed | A |
While the others stood and watched in very fear | S |
- | |
He sent the flint stones flying but the pony kept his feet | A |
He cleared the fallen timbers in his stride | A |
And the man from Snowy River never shifted in his seat | A |
It was grand to see that mountain horseman ride | A |
Through the stringybarks and saplings on the rough and broken ground | A |
Down the hillside at a racing pace he went | A |
And he never drew the bridle till he landed safe and sound | A |
At the bottom of that terrible descent | A |
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He was right among the horses as they climbed the further hill | T |
And the watchers on the mountain standing mute | A |
Saw him ply the stockwhip fiercely he was right among them still | T |
As he raced across the clearing in pursuit | A |
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Then they lost him for a moment where two mountain gullies met | A |
In the ranges but a final glimpse reveals | U |
On a dim and distant hillside the wild horses racing yet | A |
With the man from Snowy River at their heels | U |
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And he ran them single handed till their sides were white with foam | H |
He followed like a bloodhound in their track | P |
Till they halted cowed and beaten then he turned their heads for home | H |
And alone and unassisted brought them back | P |
But his hardy mountain pony he could scarcely raise a trot | A |
He was blood from hip to shoulder from the spur | V |
But his pluck was still undaunted and his courage fiery hot | A |
For never yet was mountain horse a cur | V |
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And down by Kosciusko where the pine clad ridges raise | W |
Their torn and rugged battlements on high | A |
Where the air is clear as crystal and the white stars fairly blaze | W |
At midnight in the cold and frosty sky | A |
And where around The Overflow the reed beds sweep and sway | B |
To the breezes and the rolling plains are wide | A |
The man from Snowy River is a household word today | B |
And the stockmen tell the story of his ride | A |
Banjo Paterson
(1)
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