The Friends Of The Fallen Fortunes Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDEFE GHIHJKCK FLDMINIO PQAQRSTS UVJVWJUJ AXAXOYAY OZA2ZB2C2AD2 IE2AE2AF2AF2 AAAAF2G2AG2 AZDEAQAQF2H2AH2I2AAAThe 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 | A |
Were brothers that dark day | X |
I straightened in my saddle | O |
And proudly glanced me round | Y |
I still was King of Comrades | A |
Whoever might be crowned | Y |
- | |
I straightened in my saddle | O |
And glanced round proudly then | Z |
Whoe'er might reign a season | A2 |
I held the hearts of men | Z |
No power of gold can buy them | B2 |
While battles shall be fought | C2 |
The Friends of Fallen Fortunes | A |
Are never to be bought | D2 |
- | |
Through rain and marsh and hunger | I |
To what their fate might bring | E2 |
The remnants of my legions | A |
Toiled on to join their King | E2 |
From north and south the captains | A |
Of scattered bands won through | F2 |
Beneath its beaten colours | A |
My beaten army grew | F2 |
- | |
And in the West before us | A |
The West was ever thus | A |
More Friends of Fallen Fortunes | A |
Were gathering food for us | A |
For refuge and for succour | F2 |
For safety food and rest | G2 |
The best of beaten armies | A |
For ever seek the West | G2 |
- | |
- | |
With these men for my captains | A |
When we marched east again | Z |
Our enemies were scattered | D |
Like dust across the plain | E |
Our city lay before us | A |
And as we marched along | Q |
We joined the grand old chorus | A |
Of the glorious Next Time song | Q |
And though they wear no armour | F2 |
And bear no blade nor bill | H2 |
The Friends of Fallen Fortunes | A |
Are riding with me still | H2 |
And many times defeated | I2 |
By city field and sea | A |
The Friends of Fallen Fortunes | A |
March on to Victory | A |
Henry Lawson
(1)
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