Peter Anderson And Co. Poem Rhyme Scheme

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He had offices in Sydney not so many years ago	A
And his shingle bore the legend Peter Anderson and Co '	B
But his real name was Careless as the fellows understood	C
And his relatives decided that he wasn't any good	C
'Twas their gentle tongues that blasted any character' he had	D
He was fond of beer and leisure and the Co was just as bad	D
It was limited in number to a unit was the Co	A
'Twas a bosom chum of Peter and his Christian name was Joe	A
	-
'Tis a class of men belonging to these soul forsaken years	E
Third rate canvassers collectors journalists and auctioneers	E
They are never very shabby they are never very spruce	F
Going cheerfully and carelessly and smoothly to the deuce	F
Some are wanderers by profession turning up' and gone as soon	G
Travelling second class or steerage when it's cheap they go saloon	G
Free from ists' and isms' troubled little by belief or doubt	H
Lazy purposeless and useless knocking round and hanging out	H
They will take what they can get and they will give what they can give	I
God alone knows how they manage God alone knows how they live	J
They are nearly always hard up but are cheerful all the while	K
Men whose energy and trousers wear out sooner than their smile	K
They no doubt like us are haunted by the boresome if' or might'	H
But their ghosts are ghosts of daylight they are men who live at night	H
	-
Peter met you with the comic smile of one who knows you well	L
And is mighty glad to see you and has got a joke to tell	L
He could laugh when all was gloomy he could grin when all was blue	M
Sing a comic song and act it and appreciate it too	M
Only cynical in cases where his own self was the jest	H
And the humour of his good yarns made atonement for the rest	H
Seldom serious doing business just as 'twere a friendly game	N
Cards or billiards nothing graver And the Co was much the same	N
	-
They tried everything and nothing 'twixt the shovel and the press	O
And were more or less successful in their ventures mostly less	O
Once they ran a country paper till the plant was seized for debt	H
And the local sinners chuckle over dingy copies yet	H
	-
They'd been through it all and knew it in the land of Bills and Jims	O
Using Peter's own expression they had been in various swims'	O
Now and then they'd take an office as they called it make a dash	P
Into business life as agents' something not requiring cash	P
You can always furnish cheaply when your cash or credit fails	O
With a packing case a hammer and a pound of two inch nails	O
And maybe a drop of varnish and sienna too for tints	O
And a scrap or two of oilcloth and a yard or two of chintz	O
They would pull themselves together pay a week's rent in advance	O
But it never lasted longer than a month by any chance	O
	-
The office was their haven for they lived there when hard up	Q
A daily' for a table cloth a jam tin for a cup	Q
And if the landlord's bailiff happened round in times like these	O
And seized the office fittings well there wasn't much to seize	O
They would leave him in possession But at other times they shot	H
The moon and took an office where the landlord knew them not	H
And when morning brought the bailiff there'd be nothing to be seen	R
Save a piece of bevelled cedar where the tenant's plate had been	S
There would be no sign of Peter there would be no sign of Joe	A
Till another portal boasted Peter Anderson and Co '	-
	-
And when times were locomotive billiard rooms and private bars	O
Spicy parties at the cafe long cab drives beneath the stars	O
Private picnics down the Harbour shady campings out you know	A
No one would have dreamed 'twas Peter	T
no one would have thought 'twas Joe	A
Free and easies in their diggings' when the funds began to fail	U
Bosom chums cigars tobacco and a case of English ale	U
Gloriously drunk and happy till they heard the roosters crow	A
And the landlady and neighbours made complaints about the Co	A
But that life it might be likened to a reckless drinking song	V
For it can't go on for ever and it never lasted long	V
	-
	-
	-
Debt collecting ruined Peter people talked him round too oft	H
For his heart was soft as butter and the Co 's was just as soft	H
He would cheer the haggard missus and he'd tell her not to fret	H
And he'd ask the worried debtor round with him to have a wet	H
He would ask him round the corner and it seemed to him and her	T
After each of Peter's visits things were brighter than they were	T
But of course it wasn't business only Peter's careless way	W
And perhaps it pays in heaven but on earth it doesn't pay	W
They got harder up than ever and to make it worse the Co	A
Went more often round the corner than was good for him to go	A
	-
I might live ' he said to Peter but I haven't got the nerve	X
I am going Peter going going going no reserve	X
Eat and drink and love they tell us for to morrow we may die	H
Buy experience and we bought it we're experienced you and I '	-
Then with a weary movement of his hand across his brow	Y
The death of such philosophy's the death I'm dying now	Y
Pull yourself together Peter 'tis the dying wish of Joe	A
That the business world shall honour Peter Anderson and Co	A
	-
When you feel your life is sinking in a dull and useless course	O
And begin to find in drinking keener pleasure and remorse	O
When you feel the love of leisure on your careless heart take holt	H
Break away from friends and pleasure though it give your heart a jolt	H
Shun the poison breath of cities billiard rooms and private bars	O
Go where you can breathe God's air and see the grandeur of the stars	O
Find again and follow up the old ambitions that you had	H
See if you can raise a drink old man I'm feelin' mighty bad	H
Hot and sweetened nip o' butter squeeze o' lemon Pete ' he sighed	H
And while Peter went to fetch it Joseph went to sleep and died	H
With a smile anticipation maybe of the peace to come	Z
Or a joke to try on Peter or perhaps it was the rum	Z
	-
	-
	-
Peter staggered gripped the table swerved as some old drunkard swerves	O
At a gulp he drank the toddy just to brace his shattered nerves	O
It was awful if you like But then he hadn't time to think	A2
All is nothing Nothing matters Fill your glasses dead man's drink	A2
	-
	-
	-
Yet to show his heart was not of human decency bereft	H
Peter paid the undertaker He got drunk on what was left	H
Then he shed some tears half maudlin on the grave where lay the Co	A
And he drifted to a township where the city failures go	A
Where though haunted by the man he was the wreck he yet might be	B2
Or the man he might have been or by each spectre of the three	B2
And the dying words of Joseph ringing through his own despair	C2
Peter pulled himself together' and he started business there	C2
	-
But his life was very lonely and his heart was very sad	H
And no help to reformation was the company he had	H
Men who might have been who had been but who were not in the swim	D2
'Twas a town of wrecks and failures they appreciated him	D2
They would ask him who the Co was that queer company he kept	H
And he'd always answer vaguely he would say his partner slept	H
That he had a sleeping partner' jesting while his spirit broke	E2
And they grinned above their glasses for they took it as a joke	E2
He would shout while he had money he would joke while he had breath	F2
No one seemed to care or notice how he drank himself to death	F2
Till at last there came a morning when his smile was seen no more	G2
He was gone from out the office and his shingle from the door	G2
And a boundary rider jogging out across the neighb'ring run	H2
Was attracted by a something that was blazing in the sun	H2
And he found that it was Peter lying peacefully at rest	H
With a bottle close beside him and the shingle on his	O

Henry Lawson

Peter Anderson And Co. Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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