Analysis of Gehazi

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



Whence comest thou, Gehazi,
So reverend to behold,
In scarlet and in ermines
And chain of England's gold?"

"From following after Naaman
To tell him all is well,
Whereby my zeal hath made me
A Judge in Israel."

Well done; well done, Gehazi!
Stretch forth thy ready hand,
Thou barely 'scaped from judgment,
Take oath to judge the land
Unswayed by gift of money
Or privy bribe, more base,
Of knowledge which is profit
In any market-place.

Search out and probe, Gehazi,
As thou of all carist try,
The truthful, well-weighed answer
That tells the blacker lie --
The loud, uneasy virtue
The anger feigned at will,
To overbear a witness
And make the Court keep still.

Take order now, Gehazi,
That no man talk aside
In secret with his judges
The while his case is tried.
Lest he should show them -- reason
To keep a matter hid,
And subtly lead the questions
Away from what he did.

Thou mirror of uprightness,
What ails thee at thy vows?
What means the risen whiteness
Of the skin between thy brows?

The boils that shine and burrow,
The sores that slough and bleed --
The leprosy of Naaman
On thee and all thy seed?
Stand up, stand up, Gehazi,
Draw close thy robe and go,
Gehazi, Judge in Israel,
A leper white as snow!


Scheme ABAB CXXD AEXECAXA AFXFXGAG AHAHCIAI AAAA JKCKAJDC
Poetic Form
Metre 1111 1100101 010001 011101 1100101 111111 0111111 010100 11111 111101 1101110 111101 0111110 110111 1101110 010101 11011 111111 0101110 110101 0101010 010111 11010 010111 11011 111101 0101110 011111 1111110 110101 01001010 011111 11011 111111 1101010 1010111 0111010 011101 010011 110111 11111 111101 110100 010111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,175
Words 227
Sentences 12
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 8, 8, 8, 4, 8
Lines Amount 44
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 134
Words per stanza (avg) 32
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

1:07 min read
387

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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