The Hour is Come�by Louisa Lawson

Louisa Lawson

• (1840-1920) Australian poet.
• suffragist and feminist who campaigned for women’s right to vote
• edited and published a journal called The Dawn, which was Australia’s first journal run entirely by women - it often addressed feminist issues, such as womens’ rights, domestic violence and education.
• The poem is written in 1903
• Australia gave women the right to vote in 1902
• The UK gave women the vote under the Equal Franchise Act in 1928,
• The US in 1920

2

Structure

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.��Those she was fighting for — they�Surely would go to her? Nay!�What of her pain! Theirs is the gain.�Ever the way.��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?��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.��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.

​

3

5 quatrains

AABA Pattern

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The structure suggests

that there is need for

stability when a person

fights for change,

a relentless consistency, a never give up attitude.

​

The fact that each final line

is cut short might imply

that the fight is not yet

over.

Rhetorical Questions

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.��Those she was fighting for — they�Surely would go to her? Nay!�What of her pain! Theirs is the gain.�Ever the way.��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?��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.��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.

​

The speaker poses a series of rhetorical questions to challenge the reader’s sense of moral fortitude, essentially asking what you would do in this situation?

Note: Even though this line ends in an exclamation point, it is still posed as a question.

Hypophora

5

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.��Those she was fighting for — they�Surely would go to her? Nay!�What of her pain! Theirs is the gain.�Ever the way.��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?��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.��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.

​

The speaker answers her rhetorical questions with her experience. She knows what others have done in this situation and she knows this woman well (perhaps it is Louisa Lawson herself).

Anaphora

6

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.��Those she was fighting for — they�Surely would go to her? Nay!�What of her pain! Theirs is the gain.�Ever the way.��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?��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.��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.

​

The opening anaphora creates a quick succession of questions, almost bombarding the reader with the battle at hand.

Parallel structure adds to the

quickly moving pace of the stanza, linking the anaphoras to the almost hyperbolic consequences (she fell) of

the fight.

Internal Rhyme

7

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.��Those she was fighting for — they�Surely would go to her? Nay!�What of her pain! Theirs is the gain.�Ever the way.��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?��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.��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.

​

The third line of every stanza, interrupts the patterned rhyme scheme (AABA), but actually creates a rhyming couplet. The rhyming words could almost stand alone as a summary of the women’s suffrage movement. Perhaps the internal rhyme is the speaker’s inner feeling that what she is fighting for is the right thing, bringing harmony to her internally.

metaphor

8

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.��Those she was fighting for — they�Surely would go to her? Nay!�What of her pain! Theirs is the gain.�Ever the way.��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?��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.��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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This metaphor shows the ultimate sacrifice that many women faced by standing up for their rights.

Biblical Allusions

9

The Hour is Come

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.��Those she was fighting for — they�Surely would go to her? Nay!�What of her pain! Theirs is the gain.�Ever the way.��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?��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.��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.

​

The title comes from the Bible when Jesus is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners and crucified, he says, “the hour has come.” The woman in this poem becomes a Christ figure, as she sacrifices her life for those who do not know her, or even like or believe in her. In the end, like Christ, she will rise to glory, her reward in heaven.

Discuss the writing and effects of the following poem, analyzing ways in which Louisa Lawson presents the “she” in the poem.