A Drought Idyll Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCC DDEEF GGA HIIJJ JJKKLL MMNNOK PPQQRR SSTTP PPUUV NNWWXX YZA2 B2B2 C2C2SS D2| It was the middle of the drought the ground was hot and bare | A |
| You might search for grass with a microscope but nary grass was there | A |
| The hay was done the cornstalks gone the trees were dying fast | B |
| The sun o'erhead was a curse in read and the wind was a furnace blast | B |
| The waterholes were sun baked mud the drays stood thick as bees | C |
| Around the well a mile away amid the ringbarked trees | C |
| - | |
| McGinty left his pumpkin pie and gazed upon the scene | D |
| His cows stood propped 'gainst tree and fence wherever they could lean | D |
| The horse he'd fixed with sapling forks had fallen down once more | E |
| The fleas were hopping joyfully on stockyard path and floor | E |
| The flies in thousands buzzed about before his waving hand | F |
| The hungry pigs squealed as he said 'Me own me native land ' | - |
| - | |
| 'Queensland me Mother Ain't yer well ' he asked 'Come tell me how's ' | - |
| 'Dry up Dry up ' yelled Mrs Mac 'Go out and feed the cows ' | - |
| 'But where's the feed ' McGinty cried 'The sugarcane's all done | G |
| It wasn't worth the bally freight we paid for it per ton | G |
| I'll get me little axe and go with Possum and the mare | A |
| For 'arf a ton of apple tree or a load of prickly pear ' | - |
| - | |
| 'The prickly pear'll kill the cows unless yer bile it right ' | - |
| Cried Mrs Mac 'and I don't mean to bile it all the night | H |
| They tell me fer a bob a bag the brewery will sell | I |
| Their refuse stuff like Simpson 'ad his cows is doin' well | I |
| Yer get the loan of Bampston's dray and borrer Freeny's nags | J |
| And fetch along a decent load McGinty thirty bags | J |
| - | |
| McGinty borrowed Bampston's dray and hitched up Freeney's nags | J |
| And drove like blazes into town and fetched back thirty bags | J |
| The stuff was mellow soft and brown and if you came too near | K |
| It shed around a lovely scent till the air seemed full of beer | K |
| McGinty fetched each feedbox out and filled it to the brim | L |
| Then lit his pipe and fell asleep That was the style of him | L |
| - | |
| The cows they lurched off fence and tree and staggered in to feed | M |
| The horses tottered after them old feeble and knock kneed | M |
| But when they smelt that sacred stuff in boxes on the ground | N |
| They smiled and neighed and lowed and twirled their hungry tails around | N |
| You would have walked a hundred miles or more to see and hear | O |
| They way McGinty's stock attacked that stuff that smelt like beer | K |
| - | |
| 'Wake up Wake up McGinty man Wake up ' yelled Mrs Mac | P |
| She held a broom and every word was followed by a whack | P |
| McGinty had been dreaming hard that it was Judgement Day | Q |
| And he was drafted with the goats and being driven away | Q |
| The Devil with a toasting fork was jabbing at his jaw | R |
| He rose and yelled and fled outside and this is what he saw | R |
| - | |
| The brindle cow with spotted tail was trying to climb a tree | S |
| The spotted cow with brindled tail to imitate a flea | S |
| Old Bally who had lost one horn engaged in combat stout | T |
| With the Lincoln ram whose only eye McGinty had knocked out | T |
| With tails entwined among the trees went Bessie and Basilk | P |
| Singing 'Goodbye McGinty we will come back with the milk ' | - |
| - | |
| McGinty trembling viewed the scene in wonderment and funk | P |
| Then lifted up his voice and roared 'Mother the cows is drunk | P |
| Look at that bloomin' heifer with 'er 'ead 'ung down the sty | U |
| Telling the sow she loves 'er but she some'ow can't tell why | U |
| Three of 'em snoring on their backs the rest all on the loose | V |
| Ain't there no police in these parts when cows gets on the boose ' | - |
| - | |
| McGinty viewed the orgy with a jealousy profound | N |
| Cows in various states of drunk were scattered all around | N |
| But most his rage was heightened by the conduct of the horse | W |
| That stood and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed without remorse | W |
| That horse so oft he'd lifted up and propped with logs and boughs | X |
| Now leant against a tree and mocked McGinty and his cows | X |
| - | |
| 'Bring soda water Mother ' cried McGinty 'Bring a tub' | Y |
| Forgetting that he lived about a league from any pu | Z |
| 'I swear by soda water when the drink illumes my brow | A2 |
| And if it fixes up a man it ought to fix a cow ' | - |
| But as he spoke a boozy steer approached with speed intense | B2 |
| And helped McGinty over to the safe side of the fence | B2 |
| - | |
| Regret and hate and envy held McGinty where he sat | C2 |
| 'To think ' he said 'these purple cows should have a time like that | C2 |
| For months I couldn't raise a drink it wasn't up to me | S |
| Yet every bally head of stock I've got is on the spree | S |
| This comes when you forget to keep a bottle on the shelf ' | - |
| Inspired he rose and smote his brow and fetched a spoon and delf | D2 |
| 'My word ' he said 'It's up to me to feed on this meself ' | - |
George Essex Evans
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
About A Drought Idyll
A Drought Idyll is a poem by George Essex Evans. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
Write your comment about A Drought Idyll poem by George Essex Evans
Best Poems of George Essex Evans