Poverty by Henry Lawson
S.I.F.T.T Method
I HATE this grinding poverty—
To toil, and pinch, and borrow,
And be forever haunted by
The spectra of to-morrow.
It breaks the strong heart of a man,
It crushes out his spirit—
Do what he will, do what he can,
However high his merit!
I hate the praise that Want has got
From preacher and from poet,
The cant of those who know it not
To blind the men who know it.
The greatest curse since man had birth,
An everlasting terror:
The cause of half the crime on earth,
The cause of half the error.
S- Symbolism
Want: everything that those in poverty cannot have
I-Imagery
“Breaks the strong heart of a man, It crushes out his spirit”
“To toil, and pinch, and borrow”
F-Figurative Language
The spectra of to-morrow: relates poverty to a ghost haunted him
Want: personifies his want for things
T-Theme
The effect of poverty
T-Tone
Melancholic, depressing, afflicted