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The Full Text of “The Hour Is Come”
1How did she fight? She fought well.
2How did she light? Ah, she fell.
3Why did she fall? God, who knows all,
4Only can tell.
5Those she was fighting for—they
6Surely would go to her? Nay!
7What of her pain! Theirs is the gain.
8Ever the way.
9Will they not help her to rise
10If there is death in her eyes?
11Can you not see? She made them free.
12What if she dies?
13Can we not help her? Oh, no!
14In her good fight it is so
15That all who work never must shirk
16Suff'ring and woe.
17But she'll not ever lie down—
18On her head, in the dust, is a crown
19Jewelled and bright, under whose light
20She'll rise alone.
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“The Hour Is Come” Introduction
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“The Hour Is Come” Summary
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“The Hour Is Come” Themes
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Struggle, Sacrifice, and Redemption
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Feminism and Liberation
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Hour Is Come”
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Lines 1-4
How did she fight? She fought well.
How did she light? Ah, she fell.
Why did she fall? God, who knows all,
Only can tell. -
Lines 5-8
Those she was fighting for—they
Surely would go to her? Nay!
What of her pain! Theirs is the gain.
Ever the way. -
Lines 9-12
Will they not help her to rise
If there is death in her eyes?
Can you not see? She made them free.
What if she dies? -
Lines 13-16
Can we not help her? Oh, no!
In her good fight it is so
That all who work never must shirk
Suff'ring and woe. -
Lines 17-20
But she'll not ever lie down—
On her head, in the dust, is a crown
Jewelled and bright, under whose light
She'll rise alone.
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“The Hour Is Come” Symbols
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The Crown
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“The Hour Is Come” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Repetition
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Rhetorical Question
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Irony
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Caesura
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Allusion
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“The Hour Is Come” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Light
- Nay
- Shirk
- Suff'ring
- Crown
Light-
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Hour Is Come”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“The Hour Is Come” Speaker
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“The Hour Is Come” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Hour Is Come”
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More “The Hour Is Come” Resources
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External Resources
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Feminism in Australia: A Brief History — A summary of feminist movements in Australia from the 19th through the 21st century.
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The Poet's Life — A short biography of Lawson via Encyclopedia.com.
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Women's Suffrage in Australia — More context on the late 19th and early-20th century women's suffrage movement, via the National Library of Australia.
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Lawson's Feminist Writing — A selection of Lawson's articles for her feminist periodical, The Dawn.
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More About the Poet — A summary of Lawson's life, courtesy of the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
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