The Kerrigan Boys Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH IIJJ KKLL MMNN OOCC PPQQ RRDD SSTT UUMM VVTT WWDD XXYY ZZTT JJWW KKDD| By jove it s hot on the track today my flannel is soaked with sweat | A |
| I think I ll sit in the shade a bit and wait for the sun to set | A |
| I know of a decent camping place by the river beyond the town | B |
| And I d rather carry my swag through there after the sun goes down | B |
| - | |
| A touch of pride well perhaps it is though I haven t much cause for pride | C |
| It s sixteen years to a day almost since old man Kerrigan died | C |
| Sixteen years and his place is sold and the fortune he left us spent | D |
| For the road down hill is an easy road and that was the way we went | D |
| - | |
| Kerrigan that was our father s name was one of the tough old sort | E |
| And he held by graft as he held by God and he hated drink and sport | E |
| We lads were fond of a bit of fun though he kept us under the rein | F |
| And we had to bow to the old man s will though it went against our grain | F |
| - | |
| He was kind enough in his hard old way but we had to earn our keep | G |
| Driving horses and milking cows branding and shearing sheep | G |
| No wonder we bucked a bit at times for you know what youngsters are | H |
| We mustn t dance at the local hall or drink in Mulligan s bar | H |
| - | |
| Well those were the orders the old man gave but we did it just the same | I |
| Jack was two years younger than I so I was the more to blame | I |
| But I ve often thought had he been less hard and left us a bit more free | J |
| It might have been better for him perhaps and better for Jack and me | J |
| - | |
| The old man dropped in the yard one day where we had the weaners penned | K |
| We picked him up and we carried him home but we knew that it was the end | K |
| The neighbours gathered from miles around he hadn t a single foe | L |
| And the crowd that stood by the open grave spoke well of the man below | L |
| - | |
| We grieved a lot for the old man s death though he left us wealthy men | M |
| If we had not known what he meant to us we realized it then | M |
| Our only sister had died at birth and our mother was long since dead | N |
| And we found that we were the only heirs when the old man s will was read | N |
| - | |
| We were just a couple of country lads we d never been off the farm | O |
| We d been held in check from our boyhood up by the weight of the old man s arm | O |
| Good in the saddle and fair with our fists with a touch of the old man s pride | C |
| But the neighbours muttered and shook their heads when old man Kerrigan died | C |
| - | |
| Hard and all as the old man was for years he had kept a stud | P |
| For the love of the horse for the horses sake is strong in the Irish blood | P |
| But breeding was only a hobby with him a sort of a harmless craze | Q |
| Though I d often thought that he had his fling way back in his younger days | Q |
| - | |
| We got mixed up with a racing crowd and started to go the pace | R |
| Forgot the sound of the old man s voice and the frown on his rugged face | R |
| For the road down hill is and easy road though it ends in a swift descent | D |
| We were only youngsters a reckless pair and that was the way we went | D |
| - | |
| We staked for a win on the Chester colt on the strength of a trail he showed | S |
| But someone got to the boy on top we knew by the race he rode | S |
| He lost ten lengths and he finished last it was useless to make a fuss | T |
| For the men we met in the racing game were far too cunning for us | T |
| - | |
| We backed him again in the Greytown Cup and he won by half the straight | U |
| But we left our cash in the bookies bags for he failed to draw the weight | U |
| We cursed the jockey and we cursed the horse and we sold him there and then | M |
| We d had enough of the racing game and the ways of racing men | M |
| - | |
| We could have got out of our troubles still if we put our hands to the plough | V |
| But the life of leisure and cards and drink had got the grip on us now | V |
| You may call it flashness or call it pride or simply a want of sencse | T |
| But the publicans and auctioneers grew wealthy at our expense | T |
| - | |
| We sat and drank in Mulligan s pub and gambled the whole night long | W |
| We dealt in cattle and dealt in sheep and most of our deals went wrong | W |
| As long as the banks would cash our cheques we didn t care what we spent | D |
| For the road downhill is an easy road and that was the way we went | D |
| - | |
| Then things got bad and a drought came on and it lasted over a year | X |
| Our stock died off and our dams gave out and we knew that the end was near | X |
| Our credit stopped and the bank foreclosed and our fathers place was sold | Y |
| For the road downhill is and easy road as the prodigal found of old | Y |
| - | |
| Five years after the old man s death together we took the track | Z |
| I wandered into the nearest pub and I had a drink with Jack | Z |
| Then he shook my hand and he wished me luck and I knew he was close to tears | T |
| And I ve never set eyes on Jack since then or heard of him now for years | T |
| - | |
| Somewhere out to the west of Bourke he s humping his swag maybe | J |
| Tramping along in the broiling sun and cursing himself and me | J |
| I d give two years of my worthless life though it may not last that long | W |
| For one more look at his honest face one grip of his fingers strong | W |
| - | |
| Well that s the tale of the Kerrigan boys and the moral is near the end | K |
| You ll always have plenty of friend at hand as long as you ve cash to spend | K |
| We had our chance and we played the fool it s too late now to repent | D |
| For the road downhill is an easy road and that was the road we went | D |
Edward Harrington
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