And he ran them single-handed till their sides were white with foam.

He followed like a bloodhound in their track,

Till they halted cowed and beaten, then he turned their heads for home,

And alone and unassisted brought them back.

But his hardy mountain pony he could scarcely raise a trot,

He was blood from hip to shoulder from the spur;

But his pluck was still undaunted, and his courage fiery hot,

For never yet was mountain horse a cur.

 

◦       Outline what happens in the stanza

◦       Go through line by line and discuss the meaning in relation to the whole poem

◦       Identify any poetic techniques and explain why the author chose to use it

◦       Identify any characters that are introduced and describe what they’re doing in this part of the poem

◦       Look at words and phrases you don't know or understand and determine the meaning. These may be Australian slang words as well.

◦       Describe the mood and tone of the stanza.

OUTLINE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE STANZA: The man from Snowy River runs them down single-handedly until foaming at the mouth with exhaustion, the wild horses stop - cowered and beaten. The man from Snowy River rounds them up and brings them all back. His hardy mountain horse, with blood dripping from its body where the rider's spurs had dug into his side, was so exhausted it could hardly lift a leg, but undaunted the gallant little horse continued bravely on.

GO THROUGH LINE BY LINE AND DISCUSS THE MEANING IN RELATION TO THE WHOLE POEM: All of the lines in the stanza basically show how the man from Snowy River is being very courageous while trying to round the horses and bring them back. He is not giving up even when he is exhausted. As shown by all of the lines in the poem, the man from the Snowy River never gives up and this relates to the meaning of the whole poem because the poem is trying to tell us that anyone can achieve anything if they try their hardest and put a lot of work in what they are doing. 

POETIC TECHNIQUES:

Simile: ‘He followed like a bloodhound in their track’

The author has used this simile because the author is trying to tell us that the man from Snowy River is so determined to round the horses that. This compares to a bloodhound because bloodhounds are very determined to find food just like the man from the Snowy River is determined to get the horses. 

 

The man from Snowy River: The man from Snowy River is just trying to run down and round up the horses that are running away.

The horses: The horses are basically just running away from the man from Snowy River.

Resounded to the thunder of their tread,

And the stockwhips woke the echoes and they fiercely answered back

From cliffs and crags that beetled overhead

And upward, ever upward, the wild horses held their way,

Where mountain ash and kurrajong grew wide;

And the old man muttered fiercely, ‘We \may bid the mob good day,

‘No man can hold them down the other side.