Analysis of Cells

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



I've a head like a concertina:  I've a tongue like a button-stick:
I've a mouth like an old potato, and I'm more than a little sick,
But I've had my fun o' the Corp'ral's Guard:  I've made the cinders fly,
And I'm here in the Clink for a thundering drink
          and blacking the Corporal's eye.
    With a second-hand overcoat under my head,
    And a beautiful view of the yard,
  O it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C.B.
    For "drunk and resisting the Guard!"
    Mad drunk and resisting the Guard --
    'Strewth, but I socked it them hard!
  So it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C.B.
    For "drunk and resisting the Guard."

I started o' canteen porter, I finished o' canteen beer,
But a dose o' gin that a mate slipped in, it was that that brought me here.
'Twas that and an extry double Guard that rubbed my nose in the dirt;
But I fell away with the Corp'ral's stock
          and the best of the Corp'ral's shirt.

I left my cap in a public-house, my boots in the public road,
And Lord knows where, and I don't care, my belt and my tunic goed;
They'll stop my pay, they'll cut away the stripes I used to wear,
But I left my mark on the Corp'ral's face, and I think he'll keep it there!

My wife she cries on the barrack-gate, my kid in the barrack-yard,
It ain't that I mind the Ord'ly room -- it's ~that~ that cuts so hard.
I'll take my oath before them both that I will sure abstain,
But as soon as I'm in with a mate and gin, I know I'll do it again!
    With a second-hand overcoat under my head,
    And a beautiful view of the yard,
  Yes, it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C.B.
    For "drunk and resisting the Guard!"
    Mad drunk and resisting the Guard --
    'Strewth, but I socked it them hard!
  So it's pack-drill for me and a fortnight's C.B.
    For "drunk and resisting the Guard."


Scheme aabxbCDeDDDED xxfxf xcgg ddxxCDeDDDED
Poetic Form
Metre 10110001010110101 1011110101110101 111111011110101 011001101001 01011 10101101011 001001101 1111110011 11001001 11001001 1111111 1111110011 11001001 110101101101011 10111101101111111 110111011111001 111011011 0011011 1111001011100101 011101111101101 11111101011111 1111110110111111 1111101011100101 111110111111111 11110111111101 111110101011111101 10101101011 001001101 1111110011 11001001 11001001 1111111 1111110011 11001001
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,809
Words 349
Sentences 21
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 13, 5, 4, 12
Lines Amount 34
Letters per line (avg) 38
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 325
Words per stanza (avg) 85
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

1:53 min read
204

Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist chiefly remembered for his tales and poems of British soldiers in India and his tales for children. more…

All Rudyard Kipling poems | Rudyard Kipling Books

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