Here Died Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCC DDEE FFGG HHII JJKK LLMM NNOO PPQQ RRSS FFTT UUVV WWXX YYHH ZZUA2 B2B2C2C2

There's many a schoolboy's bat and ball that are gathering dust at homeA
For he hears a voice in the future call and he trains for the war to comeB
A serious light in his eyes is seen as he comes from the schoolhouse gateC
He keeps his kit and his rifle clean and he sees that his back is straightC
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But straight or crooked or round or lame you may let these words take rootD
As the time draws near for the sterner game all boys should learn to shootD
From the beardless youth to the grim grey beard let Australians ne'er forgetE
A lame limb never interfered with a brave man's shooting yetE
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Over and over and over again to you and our friends and meF
The warning of danger has sounded plain like the thud of a gun at seaF
The rich man turns to his wine once more and the gay to their worldly joysG
The statesman laughs at a hint of war but something has told the boysG
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The schoolboy scouts of the White Man's Land are out on the hills to dayH
They trace the tracks from the sea beach sand and sea cliffs grim and greyH
They take the range for a likely shot by every cape and headI
And they spy the lay of each lonely spot where an enemy's foot might treadI
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In the cooling breeze of the coastal streams or out where the townships bakeJ
They march in fancy and fight in dreams and die for Australia's sakeJ
They hold the fort till relief arrives when the landing parties stormK
And they take the pride of their fresh young lives in the set of a uniformK
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Where never a loaded shell was hurled nor a rifle fired to killL
The schoolboy scouts of the Southern World are choosing their Battery HillL
They run the tapes on the flats and fells by roads that the guns might sweepM
They are fixing in memory obstacles where the firing lines shall creepM
-
They read and they study the gunnery they ask till the meaning's plainN
But the craft of the scout is a simple thing to the young Australian brainN
They blaze the track for a forward run where the scrub is everywhereO
And they mark positions for every gun and every unit thereO
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They trace the track for a quick retreat and the track for the other way roundP
And they mark the spot in the summer heat where the water is always foundP
They note the chances of cliff and tide and where they can move and whenQ
And every point where a man might hide in the days when they'll fight as menQ
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When silent men with their rifles lie by many a ferny dellR
And turn their heads when a scout goes by with a cheery growl All's wellR
And scouts shall climb by the fisherman's ways and watch for a sign of shipsS
With stern eyes fixed on the threatening haze where the blue horizon dipsS
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When men shall camp in the dark and damp by the bough marked batteryF
Between the forts and the open ports where the miners watch the seaF
And talk perhaps of their boy scout days as they sit in their shelters rudeT
While motors race to the distant bays with ammunition and foodT
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When the city alight shall wait by night for news from a far out postU
And men ride down from the farming town to patrol the lonely coastU
Till they hear the thud of a distant gun or the distant rifles crackV
And Australians spring to their arms as one to drive the invaders backV
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There'll be no music or martial noise save the guns to help you throughW
For a plain and shirt sleeve job my boys is the job that we'll have to doW
And many of those who had learned to shoot and in learning learned to teachX
To the last three men and the last galoot shall die on some lonely beachX
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But they'll waste their breath in no empty boast and they'll prove to the world their worthY
When the shearers rush to the Eastern Coast and the miners rush to PerthY
And the man who fights in a Queenscliff fort or up by Keppel BayH
Will know that his mates at Bunbury are doing their share that dayH
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There was never a land so great and wide where the foreign fathers cameZ
That has bred her children so much alike with their hearts so much the sameZ
And sons shall fight by the mangrove creeks that lie on the lone East CoastU
Who never shall know or not for weeks if the rest of Australia's lostA2
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And far in the future I see it well and born of such days as theseB2
There lies an Australia invincible and mistress of all her seasB2
With monuments standing on hill and head where her sons shall point with prideC2
To the names of Australia's bravest dead carved under the words Here diedC2

Henry Lawson



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