The Bush Fire Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH IIJJ KKLL MMMM NNMM OOPP QQLL RRII OOSS

Ah better the thud of the deadly gun and the crash of the bursting shellA
Than the terrible silence where drought is fought out there in the western hellA
And better the rattle of rifles near or the thunder on deck at seaB
Than the sound most hellish of all to hear of a fire where it should not beB
-
On the runs to the west of the Dingo Scrubs there was drought and ruin and deathC
And the sandstorm came from the dread north east with the blast of a furnace breathC
Till at last one day at the fierce sunrise a boundary rider wokeD
And saw in the place of the distant haze a curtain of light blue smokeD
-
There is saddling up by the cockey s hut and out in the station yardE
And away to the north north east north west the bushmen are riding hardE
The pickets are out and many a scout and many a mulga wireF
While Bill and Jim with their faces grim are riding to meet the fireF
-
It roars for days in the hopeless scrubs and across where the ground seems bareG
With a cackle and hiss like the hissing of snakes the fire is travelling thereG
Till at last exhausted by sleeplessness and the terrible toil and heatH
The squatter is crying My God the wool and the farmer My God the wheatH
-
But there comes a drunkard who reels as he rides with the news from the roadside pubI
Pat Murphy the cockey cut off by the fire way back in the Dingo ScrubI
Let the wheat and the woolshed go to Well they do as each great heart bidsJ
They are riding a race for the Dingo Scrub for Pat and his wife and kidsJ
-
And who is leading the race with death An ill matched three you ll allowK
Flash Jim the breaker and Boozing Bill who is riding steadily nowK
And Constable Dunn of the Mounted Police is riding between the twoL
He wants Flash Jim but the job can wait till they get the Murphys throughL
-
As they strike the track through the blazing scrub the trooper is heard to shoutM
We ll take them on to the Two mile Tank if we cannot bring them outM
A half mile more and the rest rein back retreating half choked halfblindM
And the three are gone from the sight of men and the bush fire roars behindM
-
The Bushman wiped the tears of smoke and like Bushmen wept and sworeN
Poor Bill will be wanting his drink to night as never he did beforeN
And Dunn was the best in the whole damned force says a client of Dunn s with prideM
I reckon he ll serve his summons on Jim when they get to the other sideM
-
It is daylight again and the fire is past and the black scrub silent and grimO
Except for the blaze of an old dead tree or the crash of a falling limbO
And the Bushmen are riding again on the run with hearts and with eyes that fillP
To look for the bodies of Constable Dunn Flash Jim and Boozing BillP
-
They are found in the mud of the Two mile Tank where a fiend might scarce surviveQ
But the Bushmen gather from words they hear that the bodies are much aliveQ
There is Swearing Pat with his grey beard singed and his language of lurid hueL
And his tough old wife and his half baked kids and the three who dragged them throughL
-
Old Pat is deploring his burnt out home and his wife the climate warmR
And Jim the loss of his favourite horse and Dunn his uniformR
And Boozing Bill with a raging thirst is cursing the Dingo ScrubI
He ll only ask for the loan of a flask and a lift to the nearest pubI
-
Flash Jim the Breaker is lying low blue paper is after himO
And Dunn the trooper is riding his rounds with a blind eye out for JimO
And Boozing Bill is fighting D Ts in the township of Sudden JerkS
When they re wanted again in the Dingo Scrubs they ll be there to do the workS

Henry Lawson



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