The Star Of Australasia Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDEDFF GGHBBIJJ KKFLLMMNNOO OPODQQOFOFIFOOOFFF ROROOOOFOO NNOOSTPORO ROOOFFR UOOVWVXYYFFOOOZOO AALLDDFF

We boast no more of our bloodless flag that rose from a nation's slimeA
Better a shred of a deep dyed rag from the storms of the olden timeA
From grander clouds in our peaceful skies' than ever were there beforeB
I tell you the Star of the South shall rise in the lurid clouds of warB
It ever must be while blood is warm and the sons of men increaseC
For ever the nations rose in storm to rot in a deadly peaceC
There comes a point that we will not yield no matter if right or wrongD
And man will fight on the battle fieldE
while passion and pride are strongD
So long as he will not kiss the rod and his stubborn spirit soursF
And the scorn of Nature and curse of God are heavy on peace like oursF
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There are boys out there by the western creeks who hurry away from schoolG
To climb the sides of the breezy peaks or dive in the shaded poolG
Who'll stick to their guns when the mountains quakeH
to the tread of a mighty warB
And fight for Right or a Grand Mistake as men never fought beforeB
When the peaks are scarred and the sea walls crackI
till the furthest hills vibrateJ
And the world for a while goes rolling back in a storm of love and hateJ
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There are boys to day in the city slum and the home of wealth and prideK
Who'll have one home when the storm is come and fight for it side by sideK
Who'll hold the cliffs 'gainst the armoured hellsF
that batter a coastal townL
Or grimly die in a hail of shells when the walls come crashing downL
And many a pink white baby girl the queen of her home to dayM
Shall see the wings of the tempest whirl the mist of our dawn awayM
Shall live to shudder and stop her ears to the thud of the distant gunN
And know the sorrow that has no tears when a battle is lost and wonN
As a mother or wife in the years to come will kneel wild eyed and whiteO
And pray to God in her darkened home for the men in the fort to night'O
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But oh if the cavalry charge again as they did when the world was wideO
'Twill be grand in the ranks of a thousand menP
in that glorious race to rideO
And strike for all that is true and strongD
for all that is grand and braveQ
And all that ever shall be so long as man has a soul to saveQ
He must lift the saddle and close his wings' and shut his angels outO
And steel his heart for the end of thingsF
who'd ride with a stockman scoutO
When the race they ride on the battle track and the waning distance humsF
And the shelled sky shrieks or the rifles crackI
like stockwhip amongst the gumsF
And the straight' is reached and the field is gapped'O
and the hoof torn sward grows redO
With the blood of those who are handicapped with iron and steel and leadO
And the gaps are filled though unseen by eyesF
with the spirit and with the shadesF
Of the world wide rebel dead who'll rise and rush with the Bush BrigadesF
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All creeds and trades will have soldiers thereR
give every class its dueO
And there'll be many a clerk to spare for the pride of the jackerooR
They'll fight for honour and fight for love and a few will fight for goldO
For the devil below and for God above as our fathers fought of oldO
And some half blind with exultant tears and some stiff lipped stern eyedO
For the pride of a thousand after years and the old eternal prideO
The soul of the world they will feel and seeF
in the chase and the grim retreatO
They'll know the glory of victory and the grandeur of defeatO
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The South will wake to a mighty change ere a hundred years are doneN
With arsenals west of the mountain range and every spur its gunN
And many a rickety son of a gun on the tides of the future tossedO
Will tell how battles were really won that History says were lostO
Will trace the field with his pipe and shirkS
the facts that are hard to explainT
As grey old mates of the diggings work the old ground over againP
How this was our centre and this a redoubtO
and that was a scrub in the rearR
And this was the point where the guards held outO
and the enemy's lines were here '-
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They'll tell the tales of the nights beforeR
and the tales of the ship and fortO
Till the sons of Australia take to war as their fathers took to sportO
Their breath come deep and their eyes grow brightO
at the tales of our chivalryF
And every boy will want to fight no matter what cause it beF
When the children run to the doors and cryR
Oh mother the troops are come '-
And every heart in the town leaps high at the first loud thud of the drumU
They'll know apart from its mystic charm what music is at lastO
When proud as a boy with a broken arm the regiment marches pastO
And the veriest wreck in the drink fiend's clutchV
no matter how low or meanW
Will feel when he hears the march a touchV
of the man that he might have beenX
And fools when the fiends of war are out and the city skies aflameY
Will have something better to talk about than an absent woman's shameY
Will have something nobler to do by far than jest at a friend's expenseF
Or blacken a name in a public bar or over a backyard fenceF
And this you learn from the libelled pastO
though its methods were somewhat rudeO
A nation's born where the shells fall fast or its lease of life renewedO
We in part atone for the ghoulish strifeZ
and the crimes of the peace we boastO
And the better part of a people's life in the storm comes uppermostO
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The self same spirit that drives the man to the depths of drink and crimeA
Will do the deeds in the heroes' van that live till the end of timeA
The living death in the lonely bush the greed of the selfish townL
And even the creed of the outlawed push is chivalry upside downL
'Twill be while ever our blood is hot while ever the world goes wrongD
The nations rise in a war to rot in a peace that lasts too longD
And southern nation and southern state aroused from their dream of easeF
Must sign in the Book of Eternal Fate their stormy historiesF

Henry Lawson



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