Analysis of Boots
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
We're foot--slog--slog--slog--sloggin' over Africa --
Foot--foot--foot--foot--sloggin' over Africa --
(Boots--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again!)
There's no discharge in the war!
Seven--six--eleven--five--nine-an'-tw enty mile to-day --
Four--eleven--seventeen--thirty-two the day before --
(Boots--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again!)
There's no discharge in the war!
Don't--don't--don't--don't--look at what's in front of you.
(Boots--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again);
Men--men--men--men--men go mad with watchin' em,
An' there's no discharge in the war!
Try--try--try--try--to think o' something different --
Oh--my--God--keep--me from goin' lunatic!
(Boots--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again!)
There's no discharge in the war!
Count--count--count--count--the bullets in the bandoliers.
If--your--eyes--drop--they will get atop o' you!
(Boots--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again) --
There's no discharge in the war!
We--can--stick--out--'unger, thirst, an' weariness,
But--not--not--not--not the chronic sight of 'em --
Boot--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again,
An' there's no discharge in the war!
'Taint--so--bad--by--day because o' company,
But night--brings--long--strings--o' forty thousand million
Boots--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again.
There's no discharge in the war!
I--'ave--marched--six--weeks in 'Ell an' certify
It--is--not--fire--devils, dark, or anything,
But boots--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again,
An' there's no discharge in the war!
Scheme | aaBC xcBC dBeC xxBC xdBC xebC xxBC xxbC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111110100 1111110100 1111111101 1101001 10101011111111 10101011010101 1111111101 1101001 11111110111 1111111101 1111111111 11101001 111111110100 111111110 1111111101 1101001 11110100001 11111110111 1111111101 1101001 1111111100 11111010111 1111111101 11101001 11111011100 111111101010 1111111101 1101001 1111101110 11110101110 11111111101 11101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,676 |
Words | 182 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 136 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 2,973 Views
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"Boots" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33162/boots>.
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