Analysis of Parade-Song of the Camp-Animals
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
Elephants of the Gun-Teams
We lent to Alexander the strength of Hercules,
The wisdom of our foreheads, the cunning of our knees.
We bowed our necks to service--they ne'er were loosed again,--
Make way there, way for the ten-foot teams
Of the Forty-Pounder train!
Those heroes in their harnesses avoid a cannon-ball,
And what they know of powder upsets them one and all;
Then we come into action and tug the guns again,--
Make way there, way for the twenty yoke
Of the Forty-Pounder train!
By the brand on my withers, the finest of tunes
Is played by the Lancers, Hussars, and Dragoons,
And it's sweeter than "Stables" or "Water" to me,
The Cavalry Canter of "Bonnie Dundee!"
Then feed us and break us and handle and groom,
And give us good riders and plenty of room,
And launch us in column of squadron and see
The Way of the War-horse to "Bonnie Dundee!"
As me and my companions were scrambling up a hill,
The path was lost in rolling stones, but we went forward still;
For we can wriggle and climb, my lads, an turn up everywhere
And it's our delight on a mountain height, with a leg or two to spare!
Good luck to every sergeant, then, that lets us pick our road:
Bad luck to all the driver-men that cannot pack a load!
For we can wriggle and climb, my lads, and turn up everywhere,
And it's our delight on a mountain height, with a leg or two to spare!
We haven't a camelty tune of our own
To help us trollop along,
But every neck is a hair-trombone
(Rtt-ta-ta-ta! is a hair-trombone! )
And this is our marching-song:
Can't! Don't! Shan't! Won't!
Pass it along the line!
Somebody's pack has slid from his back,
'Wish it were only mine!
Somebody's load has tipped off in the road--
Cheer for a halt and a row!
Urrr! Yarrh! Grr! Arrh!
Somebody's catching it now!
All The Beasts Together
Children of the Camp are we,
Serving each in his degree;
Children of the yoke and goad,
Pack and harness, pad and load.
See our line across the plain,
Like a heel-rope bent again,
Reaching, writhing, rolling far,
Sweeping all away to war!
While the men that walk beside,
Dusty, silent, heavy-eyed,
Cannot tell why we or they
March and suffer day by day.
Children of the Camp are we,
Serving each in his degree;
Children of the yoke and goad,
Pack and harness, pad and load!
Scheme | a bbcaD eecxD xaff ggff hhiI jjiI klkklxmxmjxix x FFJJdcxxnnooFFJJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1001011 11101001110 01011010101101 11101110110101 111110111 1010101 11001100010101 0111110011101 1110110010101 111110101 1010101 101111001011 111010101 011011011011 01001011001 11101101001 01111001011 01101011001 01101111001 11010100100101 01110101111101 11110011111110 011001101011011111 1111001011111101 11110101110101 11110011101110 011001101011011111 1100111101 111101 1100110101 111110101 01110101 11111 110101 10111111 110101 101111001 1101001 1111 101011 101010 1010111 1010101 1010101 1010101 11010101 1011101 1010101 1010111 1011101 1010101 1011111 1010111 1010111 1010101 1010101 1010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,283 |
Words | 430 |
Sentences | 27 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 13, 1, 16 |
Lines Amount | 57 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 173 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 2:12 min read
- 187 Views
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"Parade-Song of the Camp-Animals" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33306/parade-song-of-the-camp-animals>.
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