The poem
The creek went down with a broken song, 'Neath the sheoaks high; The waters carried the song along, And the oaks a sigh.
The song and the sigh went winding by, Went winding down; Circling the foot of the mountain high, And the hillside brown.
They were hushed in the swamp of the Dead Man's Crime, Where the curlews cried; But they reached the river the self-same time, And there they died.
And the creek of life goes winding on, Wandering by; And bears for ever, its course upon, A song and a sigh.
Breif analysis
HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE: The poem by Henry Lawson called ‘The Song and the Sigh’ describes an event where at a creek, the sound of broken song far distances along of the course of the river. The message the poet is trying to get across to the reader is that as humans we will have great support from our parents, who we look up to. Our parents are there to guide us, as resembled in the line ‘Neath the sheoak’s high’.…
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The poem by Henry Lawson called ‘The Song and the Sigh’ describes an event where at a creek, the sound of broken song far distances along of the course of the river.
The message the poet is trying to get across to the reader is that as humans we will have great support from our parents, who we look up to. Our parents are there to guide us, as resembled in the line ‘Neath the sheoak’s high’. Human kind will always travel far and wide, coming across areas of downfall and time of triumph symbolised in the lines, ‘Went winding down, Circling the foot of the mountain high’. The lines of ‘They were hushed in the swamp’ suggests that after all the hard work the person went through they were given the chance to relax and relieve themselves. The lines ‘When the curlews cried’ suggest that they were awarded and applaud for their hardship that they went through. And finally as a course of human kind at their place of peace ‘there they died’. In the final line of the poem the poet suggest that the events that has occurred are natural stages of human kind, exemplified in the lines ‘the creek of life goes winding on, Wondering by; And bears forever, it’s course upon’.
The emotion that the poem allows me to experience is an emotion of sadness that the journey of life ends to quickly with a lot happen in a short time frame. Therefore it is aimed at an audience who have an interest in the course of life and what is expected. An older age group would appeal to this poem because they would appreciate the poem more and begin reflecting on their lives and realising that they should make the most of each day. However the poem is relevant to young teenagers who have an interest in the course of life, since there are young and always keen to know what is coming ahead.
The poem has characteristics of a form of a ballad, rhyming words at the end of each line corresponding to each second line of the sentence. The style of the poem consists of Australian slang to add interest to his poem. The language is simple but is complex in terms of those without a clear understanding of Australian slang. The slang is descriptive to highlight the significance of some words. The style does help reveal the theme clearly.
The poet creates visual images using detail descriptions, and creates a sense of sound through the chirping curlews. The poem is creative in that the symbolisms attached to the course of the river which is the motif for the course of life, the ‘tune’ or ‘broken song’ is symbolic for a human, the ‘sheoks’ represents the guardians, through the rhythm pattern of the poem.