Analysis of The Shame of Going Back
Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)
When you've come to make a fortune and you haven't made your salt,
And the reason of your failure isn't anybody's fault -
When you haven't got a billet, and the times are very slack,
There is nothing that can spur you like the shame of going back;
Crawling home with empty pockets,
Going back hard-up;
Oh! it's then you learn the meaning of humiliation's cup.
When the place and you are strangers and you struggle all alone,
And you have a mighty longing for the town where you are known;
When your clothes are very shabby and the future's very black,
There is nothing that can hurt you like the shame of going back.
When we've fought the battle bravely and are beaten to the wall,
'Tis the sneers of men, not conscience, that make cowards of us all;
And the while you are returning, oh! your brain is on the rack,
And your heart is in the shadow of the shame of going back.
When a beaten man's discovered with a bullet in his brain,
They POST-MORTEM him, and try him, and they say he was insane;
But it very often happens that he'd lately got the sack,
And his onward move was owing to the shame of going back.
Ah! my friend, you call it nonsense, and your upper lip is curled,
I can see that you have never worked your passage through the world;
But when fortune rounds upon you and the rain is on the track,
You will learn the bitter meaning of the shame of going back;
Going home with empty pockets,
Going home hard-up;
Oh, you'll taste the bitter poison in humiliation's cup.
Scheme | AABBCDD EEBB FFBB GGBB HHBBCDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111110100110111 001011101010001 111010100011101 111011111011101 10111010 10111 11111010111 101011100110101 011010101011111 111110100010101 111011111011101 111010100110101 101111101110111 001110101111101 01110011011101 101010101010011 111010110111101 111010101110101 011011101011101 111111100110111 111111101110101 111010110011101 111010101011101 10111010 10111 11101010011 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,471 |
Words | 282 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 4, 4, 4, 7 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 44 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 229 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:28 min read
- 111 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Shame of Going Back" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18089/the-shame-of-going-back>.
Discuss this Henry Lawson poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In