Mount Bukaroo
Only one old post is standing --Solid yet, but only one --Where the milking, and the branding,And the slaughtering were done.Later years have brought dejection,Care, and sorrow; but we knewHappy days on that selectionUnderneath old Bukaroo.
Then the light of day commencingFound us at the gully's head,Splitting timber for the fencing,Stripping bark to roof the shed.Hands and hearts the labour strengthened;Weariness we never knew,Even when the shadows lengthenedRound the base of Bukaroo.
There for days below the paddockHow the wilderness would yieldTo the spade, and pick, and mattock,While we toiled to win the field.Bronzed hands we used to sullyTill they were of darkest hue,'Burning off' down in the gullyAt the back of Bukaroo.
When we came the baby brotherLeft in haste his broken toys,Shouted to the busy mother:'Here is dadda and the boys!'Strange it seems that she was ableFor the work that she would do;How she'd bustle round the tableIn the hut 'neath Bukaroo!
When the cows were safely yarded,And the calves were in the pen,All the cares of day discarded,Closed we round the hut-fire then.Rang the roof with boyish laughterWhile the flames o'er-topped the flue;Happy days remembered after --Far away from Bukaroo.
But the years were full of changes,And a sorrow found us there;For our home amid the rangesWas not safe from searching Care.On he came, a silent creeper;And another mountain threwO'er our lives a shadow deeperThan the shade of Bukaroo.
All the farm is disappearing;For the home has vanished now,Mountain scrub has choked the clearing,Hid the furrows of the plough.Nearer still the scrub is creepingWhere the little garden grew;And the old folks now are sleepingAt the foot of Bukaroo.
Words in this poem
- dejection n.
- A casting down; depression. Hallywell. [L. dejectio a casting down: cf. F. déjection.]
- paddock n.
- A small inclosure or park for sporting. [Corrupted fr. parrock. See Parrock.]
- mattock n.
- An implement for digging and grubbing. The head has two long steel blades, one like an adz and the other like a narrow ax or the point of a pickax. [AS. mattuc; cf. W. matog.]
- gully v. i.
- To flow noisily. Johnson.
- boyish a.
- Resembling a boy in a manners or opinions; belonging to a boy; childish; trifling; puerile.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mount Bukaroo is in the public domain. This text is taken from In the Days When the World Was Wide, and Other Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #214; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Lawson, Mount Bukaroo, in In the Days When the World Was Wide (1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #214, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lawson-world-was-wide/mount-bukaroo.html, id L23232.
Form and metre
Mount Bukaroo is 56 lines in 7 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCD standingA · oneB · brandingA · doneB · dejectionC · knewD · selectionC · bukarooD
- 2 ABABCDCD commencingA · headB · fencingA · shedB · strengthenedC · knewD · lengthenedC · bukarooD
- 3 ABABCDCD paddockA · yieldB · mattockA · fieldB · sullyC · hueD · gullyC · bukarooD
- 4 ABABCDCD brotherA · toysB · motherA · boysB · ableC · doD · tableC · bukarooD
- 5 ABABCDCD yardedA · penB · discardedA · thenB · laughterC · flueD · afterC · bukarooD
- 6 ABABCDCD changesA · thereB · rangesA · careB · creeperC · threwD · deeperC · bukarooD
- 7 ABABCDCD disappearingA · nowB · clearingA · ploughB · creepingC · grewD · sleepingC · bukarooD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Only one old post is standing -- | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Solid yet, but only one -- | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Where the milking, and the branding, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And the slaughtering were done. | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Later years have brought dejection, | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Care, and sorrow; but we knew | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Happy days on that selection | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Underneath old Bukaroo. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Then the light of day commencing | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Found us at the gully's head, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Splitting timber for the fencing, | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| Stripping bark to roof the shed. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Hands and hearts the labour strengthened; | 8 | ····/·/˘ |
| Weariness we never knew, | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| Even when the shadows lengthened | 8 | /˘··/·/˘ |
| Round the base of Bukaroo. | 7 | ······· |
| There for days below the paddock | 8 | ······/˘ |
| How the wilderness would yield | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| To the spade, and pick, and mattock, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| While we toiled to win the field. | 7 | ······· |
| Bronzed hands we used to sully | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Till they were of darkest hue, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| 'Burning off' down in the gully | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| At the back of Bukaroo. | 7 | ······· |
| When we came the baby brother | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Left in haste his broken toys, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Shouted to the busy mother: | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| 'Here is dadda and the boys!' | 7 | ······· |
| Strange it seems that she was able | 8 | ······/˘ |
| For the work that she would do; | 7 | ······· |
| How she'd bustle round the table | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| In the hut 'neath Bukaroo! | 7 | ······· |
| When the cows were safely yarded, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And the calves were in the pen, | 7 | ······· |
| All the cares of day discarded, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Closed we round the hut-fire then. | 7 | ·····/· |
| Rang the roof with boyish laughter | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| While the flames o'er-topped the flue; | 7 | ······· |
| Happy days remembered after -- | 8 | /˘·˘/˘·· |
| Far away from Bukaroo. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| But the years were full of changes, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And a sorrow found us there; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For our home amid the ranges | 8 | ·/·˘/·/˘ |
| Was not safe from searching Care. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| On he came, a silent creeper; | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And another mountain threw | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘· |
| O'er our lives a shadow deeper | 8 | ·/··/·/˘ |
| Than the shade of Bukaroo. | 7 | ······· |
| All the farm is disappearing; | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| For the home has vanished now, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Mountain scrub has choked the clearing, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Hid the furrows of the plough. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Nearer still the scrub is creeping | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Where the little garden grew; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And the old folks now are sleeping | 8 | ······/˘ |
| At the foot of Bukaroo. | 7 | ······· |
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