Laurel · Henry Lawson · In the Days When the World Was Wide

The Teams

Henry Lawson (1867–1922) · 1896

iambic tetrameter · ABAAB · 40 lines · from In the Days When the World Was Wide

A cloud of dust on the long white road,And the teams go creeping onInch by inch with the weary load;And by the power of the green-hide goadThe distant goal is won.

With eyes half-shut to the blinding dust,And necks to the yokes bent low,The beasts are pulling as bullocks must;And the shining tires might almost rustWhile the spokes are turning slow.

With face half-hid 'neath a broad-brimmed hatThat shades from the heat's white waves,And shouldered whip with its green-hide plait,The driver plods with a gait like thatOf his weary, patient slaves.

He wipes his brow, for the day is hot,And spits to the left with spite;He shouts at 'Bally', and flicks at 'Scot',And raises dust from the back of 'Spot',And spits to the dusty right.

He'll sometimes pause as a thing of formIn front of a settler's door,And ask for a drink, and remark 'It's warm,Or say 'There's signs of a thunder-storm';But he seldom utters more.

But the rains are heavy on roads like these;And, fronting his lonely home,For weeks together the settler seesThe teams bogged down to the axletrees,Or ploughing the sodden loam.

And then when the roads are at their worst,The bushman's children hearThe cruel blows of the whips reversedWhile bullocks pull as their hearts would burst,And bellow with pain and fear.

And thus with little of joy or restAre the long, long journeys done;And thus -- 'tis a cruel war at the best --Is distance fought in the mighty West,And the lonely battles won.

Words in this poem

shouldered a.: Having shoulders; -- used in composition; as, a broad- shouldered man.
settler n.: One who settles, becomes fixed, established, etc.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Teams 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, The Teams, 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/the-teams.html, id L23234.

Form and metre

The Teams is 40 lines in 8 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 7 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).

See other poems in iambic 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 ABAAB road^A · on^B · load^A · goad^A · won^B
2 ABAAB dust^A · low^B · must^A · rust^A · slow^B
3 AB-AB hat^A · waves^B · plait · that^A · slaves^B
4 ABAAB hot^A · spite^B · scot^A · spot^A · right^B
5 ABAAB form^A · door^B · warm^A · storm^A · more^B
6 ABAAB these^A · home^B · sees^A · axletrees^A · loam^B
7 ABAAB worst^A · hear^B · reversed^A · burst^A · fear^B
8 ABAAB rest^A · done^B · best^A · west^A · won^B

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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
A cloud of dust on the long white road,	9	·········
And the teams go creeping on	7	····/˘·
Inch by inch with the weary load;	8	·····/˘·
And by the power of the green-hide goad	9	···/·····
The distant goal is won.	6	·/˘···
With eyes half-shut to the blinding dust,	9	······/˘·
And necks to the yokes bent low,	7	·······
The beasts are pulling as bullocks must;	9	···/˘·/˘·
And the shining tires might almost rust	9	··/˘/·/··
While the spokes are turning slow.	7	····/˘·
With face half-hid 'neath a broad-brimmed hat	9	·········
That shades from the heat's white waves,	7	·······
And shouldered whip with its green-hide plait,	9	·/˘······
The driver plods with a gait like that	9	·/˘······
Of his weary, patient slaves.	7	··/˘/˘·
He wipes his brow, for the day is hot,	9	·········
And spits to the left with spite;	7	·······
He shouts at 'Bally', and flicks at 'Scot',	9	···/˘····
And raises dust from the back of 'Spot',	9	·/˘······
And spits to the dusty right.	7	····/˘·
He'll sometimes pause as a thing of form	9	·˘/······
In front of a settler's door,	7	····/˘·
And ask for a drink, and remark 'It's warm,	10	······˘/··
Or say 'There's signs of a thunder-storm';	9	······/˘·
But he seldom utters more.	7	··/˘/˘·
But the rains are heavy on roads like these;	10	····/˘····
And, fronting his lonely home,	7	·/˘·/˘·
For weeks together the settler sees	9	··˘/˘·/˘·
The teams bogged down to the axletrees,	8	········
Or ploughing the sodden loam.	7	·/˘·/˘·
And then when the roads are at their worst,	9	·········
The bushman's children hear	6	·/˘/˘·
The cruel blows of the whips reversed	9	·/˘····˘/
While bullocks pull as their hearts would burst,	9	·/˘······
And bellow with pain and fear.	7	·/˘····
And thus with little of joy or rest	9	···/˘····
Are the long, long journeys done;	7	····/˘·
And thus -- 'tis a cruel war at the best --	9	····/····
Is distance fought in the mighty West,	9	·/˘···/˘·
And the lonely battles won.	7	··/˘/˘·

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

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In the Days When the World Was Wide