Analysis of Hunting Song of the Seeonee Pack

Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)



As the dawn was breaking the Sambhur belled
Once, twice, and again!
And a doe leaped up -- and a doe leaped up
From the pond in the wood where the wild deer sup.
This I, scouting alone, beheld,
Once, twice, and again!

As the dawn was breaking the Sambhur belled
Once, twice, and again!
And a wolf stole back -- and a wolf stole back
To carry the word to the waiting Pack;
And we sought and we found and we bayed on his track
Once, twice, and again!

As the dawn was breaking the Wolf-pack yelled
Once, twice, and again!
Feet in the jungle that leave no mark!
Eyes that can see in the dark -- the dark!
Tongue -- give tongue to it! Hark! O Hark!
Once, twice, and again!

His spots are the joy of the Leopard: his horns are the Buffalo's pride --
Be clean, for the strength of the hunter is known by the gloss of his hide.

If ye find that the Bullock can toss you, or the heavy-browed Sambhur can gore;
Ye need not stop work to inform us; we knew it ten seasons before.

Oppress not the cubs of the stranger, but hail them as Sister and Brother,
For though they are little and fubsy, it may be the Bear is their mother.

"There is none like to me!" says the Cub in the pride of his earliest kill;
But the Jungle is large and the Cub he is small. Let him think and be still.


Scheme ABccaB ABdddB aBeeeB aa ff gg hh
Poetic Form
Metre 101110011 11001 0011100111 10100110111 1110011 11001 101110011 11001 0011100111 1100110101 011011011111 11001 1011100111 11001 100101111 111100101 11111111 11001 1110110101110101 11101101011101111 111101011110101111 11111101111111001 011011010111110010 11111001111011110 111111101001111001 101011001111111011
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,251
Words 258
Sentences 19
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 2, 2, 2, 2
Lines Amount 26
Letters per line (avg) 37
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 136
Words per stanza (avg) 36
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 22, 2023

1:17 min read
185

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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