The Shanty Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBBCCCDDD EEFFFGGGHHH IIJJJKKKLLL AAMMMNNNNNN| THERE ARE tracks through the scrub there s a track down the hill | A |
| And a track round the bend from M Courteney s mill | A |
| Where they slyly emerge from the bush and converge | B |
| You ll discover the humpy the theme of this dirge | B |
| That is used for the sale of O Sullivan s purge | B |
| And if curses and cries | C |
| And a blasting of eyes | C |
| And a series of blasphemies fearful arise | C |
| And a lunatic din | D |
| And a racket like sin | D |
| You can bet all you own the O Sullivan s in | D |
| - | |
| It s a bark and slab hut with a bar and a bunk | E |
| And a man propped before it disgustingly drunk | E |
| And a nameless galoot in a hand me down suit | F |
| Straddling out on the grass grim as death and as mute | F |
| Trapping millions of rabbits that run from his boot | F |
| When eleven lie round | G |
| In all shapes on the mound | G |
| And two navvies are fighting like fiends on the ground | G |
| Tisn t needful to say | H |
| It s the sweet Sabbath day | H |
| And that trade at the shanty s uncommonly gay | H |
| - | |
| Mrs O makes the drinks and O Sullivan s dart | I |
| Is to drink all he can to keep others in heart | I |
| Though he s old in the hoof and he reckons he s proof | J |
| Gainst infernalest liquors in warp and in woof | J |
| He s quite frequently seen howling out on the roof | J |
| For from fungus or fruits | K |
| From old rags or from roots | K |
| Grass cabbages pickles old bedding or boots | K |
| Or the leaves of the gum | L |
| Or whatever may come | L |
| Mrs O can extract the most illigant rum | L |
| - | |
| They ve no peace in the hut and no peace on the hill | A |
| Mrs O never sleeps and her hand s never still | A |
| And old constable Mack cannot hit on the track | M |
| As a man of the law As a stranger in black | M |
| When he finds his way there he can t find his way back | M |
| There s no signboard to see | N |
| But those fools on the spree | N |
| Or a man in his shirt shrieking prayers to a tree | N |
| As for licenses yar | N |
| They don t know what they are | N |
| For they drink without license at Sullivan s bar | N |
Edward George Dyson
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about The Shanty poem by Edward George Dyson
Best Poems of Edward George Dyson