The Fire At Ross's Farm Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDEFEGHIHJKLK MNONBPQR STUTVWAG XYZYAA2B2A2 C2D2E2D2E2F2G2F2 H2I2J2K2L2M2N2O2 P2AQ2AE2QE2Q R2E2S2E2T2BE2B T2U2V2U2AE2T2E2 W2X2Y2X2MWUG Z2A3E2JB3GE2W C3D3E3D3AF3EF3 B3X2G3X2AL2U2L2 H3QC2QI3J3K3J3The squatter saw his pastures wide | A |
Decrease as one by one | B |
The farmers moving to the west | C |
Selected on his run | B |
Selectors took the water up | D |
And all the black soil round | E |
The best grass land the squatter had | F |
Was spoilt by Ross's Ground | E |
Now many schemes to shift old Ross | G |
Had racked the squatter's brains | H |
But Sandy had the stubborn blood | I |
Of Scotland in his veins | H |
He held the land and fenced it in | J |
He cleared and ploughed the soil | K |
And year by year a richer crop | L |
Repaid him for his toil | K |
- | |
Between the homes for many years | M |
The devil left his tracks | N |
The squatter pounded Ross's stock | O |
And Sandy pounded Black's | N |
A well upon the lower run | B |
Was filled with earth and logs | P |
And Black laid baits about the farm | Q |
To poison Ross's dogs | R |
- | |
It was indeed a deadly feud | S |
Of class and creed and race | T |
But yet there was a Romeo | U |
And a Juliet in the case | T |
And more than once across the flats | V |
Beneath the Southern Cross | W |
Young Robert Black was seen to ride | A |
With pretty Jenny Ross | G |
- | |
One Christmas time when months of drought | X |
Had parched the western creeks | Y |
The bush fires started in the north | Z |
And travelled south for weeks | Y |
At night along the river side | A |
The scene was grand and strange | A2 |
The hill fires looked like lighted streets | B2 |
Of cities in the range | A2 |
- | |
The cattle tracks between the trees | C2 |
Were like long dusky aisles | D2 |
And on a sudden breeze the fire | E2 |
Would sweep along for miles | D2 |
Like sounds of distant musketry | E2 |
It crackled through the brakes | F2 |
And o'er the flat of silver grass | G2 |
It hissed like angry snakes | F2 |
- | |
It leapt across the flowing streams | H2 |
And raced o'er pastures broad | I2 |
It climbed the trees and lit the boughs | J2 |
And through the scrubs it roared | K2 |
The bees fell stifled in the smoke | L2 |
Or perished in their hives | M2 |
And with the stock the kangaroos | N2 |
Went flying for their lives | O2 |
- | |
The sun had set on Christmas Eve | P2 |
When through the scrub lands wide | A |
Young Robert Black came riding home | Q2 |
As only natives ride | A |
He galloped to the homestead door | E2 |
And gave the first alarm | Q |
The fire is past the granite spur | E2 |
And close to Ross's farm | Q |
- | |
Now father send the men at once | R2 |
They won't be wanted here | E2 |
Poor Ross's wheat is all he has | S2 |
To pull him through the year | E2 |
Then let it burn the squatter said | T2 |
I'd like to see it done | B |
I'd bless the fire if it would clear | E2 |
Selectors from the run | B |
- | |
Go if you will the squatter said | T2 |
You shall not take the men | U2 |
Go out and join your precious friends | V2 |
And don't come here again | U2 |
I won't come back young Robert cried | A |
And reckless in his ire | E2 |
He sharply turned his horse's head | T2 |
And galloped towards the fire | E2 |
- | |
And there for three long weary hours | W2 |
Half blind with smoke and heat | X2 |
Old Ross and Robert fought the flames | Y2 |
That neared the ripened wheat | X2 |
The farmer's hand was nerved by fears | M |
Of danger and of loss | W |
And Robert fought the stubborn foe | U |
For the love of Jenny Ross | G |
- | |
But serpent like the curves and lines | Z2 |
Slipped past them and between | A3 |
Until they reached the bound'ry where | E2 |
The old coach road had been | J |
The track is now our only hope | B3 |
There we must stand cried Ross | G |
For nought on earth can stop the fire | E2 |
If once it gets across | W |
- | |
Then came a cruel gust of wind | C3 |
And with a fiendish rush | D3 |
The flames leapt o'er the narrow path | E3 |
And lit the fence of brush | D3 |
The crop must burn the farmer cried | A |
We cannot save it now | F3 |
And down upon the blackened ground | E |
He dashed the ragged bough | F3 |
- | |
But wildly in a rush of hope | B3 |
His heart began to beat | X2 |
For o'er the crackling fire he heard | G3 |
The sound of horses' feet | X2 |
Here's help at last young Robert cried | A |
And even as he spoke | L2 |
The squatter with a dozen men | U2 |
Came racing through the smoke | L2 |
- | |
Down on the ground the stockmen jumped | H3 |
And bared each brawny arm | Q |
They tore green branches from the trees | C2 |
And fought for Ross's farm | Q |
And when before the gallant band | I3 |
The beaten flames gave way | J3 |
Two grimy hands in friendship joined | K3 |
And it was Christmas Day | J3 |
Henry Lawson
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