Poet Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson

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The Shakedown On The Floor Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDCDEEFEAFEG EAAAFHIH EEEEADCD AEJECGEG AAEAEGEG KJAJFLML AAFAFBNB

Set me back for twenty summersA
For I m tired of cities nowB
Set my feet in red soil furrowsA
And my hands upon the ploughB
With the two Black Brothers trudgingC
On the home stretch through the loamD
While along the grassy sidingC
Come the cattle grazing homeD
And I finish ploughing earlyE
And I hurry home to teaE
There s my black suit on the stretcherF
And a clean white shirt for meE
There s a dance at Rocky RisesA
And when all the fun is o erF
For a certain favoured partyE
There s a shake down on the floorG
-
You remember Mary CareyE
Bushmen s favourite at the RiseA
With her sweet small freckled featuresA
Red gold hair and kind grey eyesA
Sister daughter to her motherF
Mother sister to the restH
And of all my friends and kindredI
Mary Carey loved me bestH
-
Far too shy because she loved meE
To be dancing oft with meE
What cared I because she loved meE
If the world were there to seeE
But we lingered by the slip railsA
While the rest were riding homeD
Ere the hour before the dawningC
Dimmed the great star clustered domeD
-
Small brown hands that spread the mattressA
While the old folk winked to seeE
How she d find an extra pillowJ
And an extra sheet for meE
For a moment shyly smilingC
She would grant me one kiss moreG
Slip away and leave me happyE
By the shake down on the floorG
-
Rock me hard in steerage cabinsA
Rock me soft in wide saloonsA
Lay me on the sand hill lonelyE
Under waning western moonsA
But wherever night may find meE
Till I rest for evermoreG
I will dream that I am happyE
On the shake down on the floorG
-
Ah she often watched at sunsetK
For her people told me soJ
Where I left her at the slip railsA
More than fifteen years agoJ
And she faded like a flowerF
And she died as such girls doL
While away in Northern QueenslandM
Working hard I never knewL
-
And we suffer for our sorrowsA
And we suffer for our joysA
From the old bush days when motherF
Spread the shake down for the boysA
But to cool the living feverF
Comes a cold breath to my browB
And I feel that Mary s spiritN
Is beside me even nowB

Henry Lawson



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