The Friends Of Fallen Fortunes Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDEFE GHIHJKCK FLDMINIO PQAQRSTS UVJVWJUJ AXYXOZA2Z OB2C2B2D2E2CF2 IG2CG2CH2CH2 CCCCH2I2CI2 CB2DECQCQH2J2CJ2K2CC CThe battlefield behind us | A |
And night loomed on the track | B |
The Friends of Fallen Fortunes | C |
Were riding at my back | B |
Save those who lay face upward | D |
Upon the sodden plain | E |
Not one of all I d trusted | F |
Was missing from my train | E |
- | |
A draggled train and blood stained | G |
With helmets dented in | H |
With battered loosened armour | I |
But with a cheerful grin | H |
No dark look bent upon me | J |
I noted to my shame | K |
That Friends of Fallen Fortunes | C |
Are aye the last to blame | K |
- | |
- | |
Not one of all I d trusted | F |
Who d followed to their cost | L |
Save those who lay face upward | D |
On that red field I d lost | M |
And here and there a soldier | I |
I d trusted not at all | N |
Like an unexpected mourner | I |
At a poor man s funeral | O |
- | |
And as the horses stumbled | P |
And the footmen limped along | Q |
They all joined in the chorus | A |
Of a good old Next Time song | Q |
Behind us in the distance | R |
By hill and lane and wood | S |
My ever dwindling rear guard | T |
Fell back again and stood | S |
- | |
They recked not wounds nor losses | U |
They all seemed very kind | V |
From knight who rode beside me | J |
To boor who limped behind | V |
And some borne in their litters | W |
Through that long agony | J |
Their death white pain drawn faces | U |
Had no reproach for me | J |
- | |
And so from noon till darkness | A |
Till morning grim and grey | X |
The Earl s son and the Peasant s | Y |
Were brothers that dark day | X |
I straightened in my saddle | O |
And proudly glanced me round | Z |
I still was King of Comrades | A2 |
Whoever might be crowned | Z |
- | |
I straightened in my saddle | O |
And glanced round proudly then | B2 |
Whoe er might reign a season | C2 |
I held the hearts of men | B2 |
No power of gold can buy them | D2 |
While battles shall be fought | E2 |
The Friends of Fallen Fortunes | C |
Are never to be bought | F2 |
- | |
Through rain and marsh and hunger | I |
To what their fate might bring | G2 |
The remnants of my legions | C |
Toiled on to join their King | G2 |
From north and south the captains | C |
Of scattered bands won through | H2 |
Beneath its beaten colours | C |
My beaten army grew | H2 |
- | |
And in the West before us | C |
The West was ever thus | C |
More Friends of Fallen Fortunes | C |
Were gathering food for us | C |
For refuge and for succour | H2 |
For safety food and rest | I2 |
The best of beaten armies | C |
For ever seek the West | I2 |
- | |
- | |
With these men for my captains | C |
When we marched east again | B2 |
Our enemies were scattered | D |
Like dust across the plain | E |
Our city lay before us | C |
And as we marched along | Q |
We joined the grand old chorus | C |
Of the glorious Next Time song | Q |
And though they wear no armour | H2 |
And bear no blade nor bill | J2 |
The Friends of Fallen Fortunes | C |
Are riding with me still | J2 |
And many times defeated | K2 |
By city field and sea | C |
The Friends of Fallen Fortunes | C |
March on to Victory | C |
Henry Lawson
(1)
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