The Cattle-dog's Death Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCDD EEFF GGHI JJGG KLEE GGMM GGGG GGNO| The Plains lay bare on the homeward route | A |
| And the march was heavy on man and brute | A |
| For the Spirit of Drought was on all the land | B |
| And the white heat danced on the glowing sand | B |
| - | |
| The best of our cattle dogs lagged at last | C |
| His strength gave out ere the plains were passed | C |
| And our hearts grew sad when he crept and laid | D |
| His languid limbs in the nearest shade | D |
| - | |
| He saved our lives in the years gone by | E |
| When no one dreamed of the danger nigh | E |
| And the treacherous blacks in the darkness crept | F |
| On the silent camp where the drovers slept | F |
| - | |
| The dog is dying a stockman said | G |
| As he knelt and lifted the shaggy head | G |
| Tis a long day s march ere the run be near | H |
| And he s dying fast shall we leave him here | I |
| - | |
| But the super cried There s an answer there | J |
| As he raised a tuft of the dog s grey hair | J |
| And strangely vivid each man descried | G |
| The old spear mark on the shaggy hide | G |
| - | |
| We laid a bluey and coat across | K |
| The camping pack of the lightest horse | L |
| And raised the dog to his deathbed high | E |
| And brought him far neath the burning sky | E |
| - | |
| At the kindly touch of the stockmen rude | G |
| His eyes grew human with gratitude | G |
| And though we parched in the heat that fags | M |
| We gave him the last of the water bags | M |
| - | |
| The super s daughter we knew would chide | G |
| If we left the dog in the desert wide | G |
| So we brought him far o er the burning sand | G |
| For a parting stroke of her small white hand | G |
| - | |
| But long ere the station was seen ahead | G |
| His pain was o er for the dog was dead | G |
| And the folks all knew by our looks of gloom | N |
| Twas a comrade s corpse that we carried home | O |
Henry Lawson
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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