Analysis of A Ballade of Jakko Hill
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
One moment bid the horses wait,
Since tiffin is not laid till three,
Below the upward path and straight
You climbed a year ago with me.
Love came upon us suddenly
And loosed -- an idle hour to kill --
A headless, armless armory
That smote us both on Jakko Hill.
Ah Heaven! we would wait and wait
Through Time and to Eternity!
Ah Heaven! we could conquer Fate
With more than Godlike constancy
I cut the date upon a tree --
Here stand the clumsy figures still:
"10-7-85, A.D."
Damp with the mist of Jakko Hill.
What came of high resolve and great,
And until Death fidelity!
Whose horse is waiting at your gate?
Whose 'rickshaw-wheels ride over me?
No Saint's, I swear; and -- let me see
To-night what names your programme fill --
We drift asunder merrily,
As drifts the mist on Jakko Hill.
L'ENVOI.
Princess, behold our ancient state
Has clean departed; and we see
'Twas Idleness we took for Fate
That bound light bonds on you and me.
Amen! Here ends the comedy
Where it began in all good will;
Since Love and Leave together flee
As driven mist on Jakko Hill!
Scheme | ABABBCBC ABABBCXC ABABBCBC XABABBCBC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 11011111 01010101 11010111 11011100 011101011 0101100 1111111 11011101 11010100 11011101 1111100 11010101 11010101 1 1101111 11110101 00110100 11110111 1111101 11110111 1111111 11010100 1101111 1 100110101 11010011 11001111 11111101 01110100 11010111 11010101 1101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,066 |
Words | 201 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 9 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 203 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 137 Views
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